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THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND

MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

VOYAGE

TO

SPITZBERGEN;

CONTAINING AN

Account of tjjat Cauntrg,

OF THE

ZOOLOGY OF THE NORTH ; OF THE SHETLAND ISLES ;
AND OF THE WHALE FISHERY.

WITH AN APPENDIX,

CONTAINING

An Historical Account of the Dutch, English, and Ame-
rican Whale Fisheries; some Important Observations
on the Variation of the Compass, &c. ; and some Ex-
tracts from Mr. Scoresby's Paper on " Polar Ice."

BY JOHN LjAING,

SURGEON'.

A NEW EDITION.

EDINBURGH:
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR.

1825.

PRINTED BY A. BALFOUR & CO.

TO

JOHN R. M'CULLOCH, Esq.

THIS LITTLE AVORK IS INSCRIBED,

AS

A SMALL TESTIMONY

OF

THE ESTEEM AND GRATITUDE

OF

HIS MUCH OBLIGED,

AND SINCERE FRIEND,

, THE AUTHOR.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The Journal I kept when on board the Resolu-
tion in 1806, is taken as the basis of the subse-
quent little Work. It may, however, be looked
upon as containing the observations I made both
in 1806 and 1807, as I have engrossed into the
Narration whatever I observed of consequence the
following year. .

D iAfiHAM
of 4h*
ARCTIC H-KtilONN

, X ■ ;, .,; '.•/,W»

ACCOUNT

or a

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

In the year 1806, being at the University of
Edinburgh, an advertisement was put on the Col-
lege Gate, by Messrs. P. and C. Wood, merchants,
Leith, intimating that a surgeon was wanted for
the ship Resolution of Whitby, Yorkshire, engaged
in the North Sea whale-fishery.

Impelled by curiosity, and by a still more power-
ful motive, to visit the snow-clad coast of Spitzber-
gen, I applied ; and was, after due examination,
admitted surgeon for the voyage.

Nothing particular occurred on my journey from
this to Whitby, where I arrived on Sunday the 16th
of March, and was, in every respect, comfortably
accommodated at the house of the Captain.

B

.*

2 VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN.

As we did not sail for several days after my ar-
rival, I spent a considerable part of my time in
making such remarks on the town as were particu-
larly interesting.

Whitby is a thriving sea-port in the North Rid-
ing of Yorkshire, situated, ou the mouth of the
river Esk. It is chiefly celebrated for the manufac-
ture of canvas, and for the extensive alum works in
its neighbourhood. Its harbour is the best on this
coast, and has a fine pier ; but it has no river com-
munication with the interior country. Behind the
pier is a battery which mounts twelve eighteen-
pounders. This town was formerly noted for its
Abbey, of which some ruins still remaining testify
its ancient magnificence.

Here are different houses of worship, viz. an ele-
gant church of the established religion ; and several
meeting-houses belonging to Presbyterians, Quakers,
Methodists, Roman Catholics, &c.

Whitby is 50 miles north-east of York, and
245 north of London ; Lat. 54° 30' North, Long.
1° 55' West.

The word Whitby is a contraction of its original
appellation White Bay, so called from the white
surges made by the breaking of the waves along
the shore, so that the whole bay assumes a white or

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 3

frothy appearance to a person standing upon the
opposite banks.

Contiguous to this place, in a town called Mar-
ton, was born that great circumnavigator Captain
James Cook, whose barometer (that which he used
in his voyaga of discovery) we had on board the
Resolution.

Between Whitby and Lyth, a small town distant
about four miles, is a beautiful level strand, eene-
rally known by the name of Whitby Sands, upon
which there used to be annual races ; but now they
are less frequent.

Adjacent to Lyth, is the seat of the Mulgrave
family, one of whom, Constantine John Phipps,
(afterwards Lord Mulgrave), in 1773, undertook a
voyage, by his Majesty's command, towards the
North Pole, under the hopes of discovering a pas-
sage to the East Indies in a north-east direction :
but in which he, like many others, did not suc-
ceed.

Among the sands on the shore are found stones
resembling snakes without heads, the " Cornu am-
moms" of naturalists. These stones are easily
known by circular, or rather spiral windings mark-
ed on their outside. One of these being broken, its
interior exhibits the appearance of a snake rolled
up and ready to make a spring.

4 VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN.

That these are petrified snakes, is really believed
by the peasants on the coast, concerning which they
tell the following whimsical story :

An old lady, say they, who lived in that neigh-
bourhood some centuries back, having procured a
charm, or spell, to banish some noxious reptiles with
which that part of the country was then cruelly ha-
rassed, set to work, and, by her incantations, collect-
ed all the snakes within a considerable distance, and
brought them to the banks of Whitby, whence she
hurried them down so precipitately on the strand,
that they all broke their necks, and of course, in
their petrified state, are found without heads *.

Not many years ago Whitby sent upwards of
twenty vessels to Greenland ; but afterwards that
trade fell much to decay, until it was latterly re-
vived by the persevering activity of Captain Scores-
by, whose many successful whale-fishing voyages
tended greatly to promote the opulence of this town,
by encouraging others to embark in the same lucra-
tive business.

The Resolution, in which I made this voyage,
was a stout new ship, of about four hundred tons
burden, fitted out as a letter of marque, carrying

* They affirm that this part of the coast has never since been
frequented by those venomous creatures, although they are quite
common in other parts of the kingdom. Crcdat cui placeat.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 5

twelve six-pounders, besides stern-chasers, and well
furnished with firelocks, pistols, swords, cutlasses,
bayonets, &c. She was provided with nine fishing
boats, and her crew consisted of between sixty and
seventy men.

Greenland voyages are generally performed in
the course of four or five months ; but, lest ves-
sels should be detained by the ice beyond that
time, they have usually nine months provision on
board.

Our ship was abundantly supplied with good
beef, pork, bacon, flour, oat-meal, biscuit, peas, po-
tatoes, cheese, butter, molasses, preserved fruit,
fowls, eggs, dried fish, strong ale, small beer, Eng-
lish brandy, tea, coffee, sugar, tobacco, besides plen-
ty of foreign spirits and wines for the use of the
cabin. Neither was there any cost spared in laying
in an ample supply of proper medicines and cordials
for the sick.

Early on the morning of the 23d of March we
set sail from Whitby, amidst the hearty cheers of
a numerous concourse of spectators.

Being favoured with a fresh breeze which caused
a heavy swell, a general sickness prevailed at our
first setting out, from which the most experienced
seamen were not exempted, and which affected
me so severely, as to preclude all possibility of

6 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

making any remarks previous to our landing in
Shetland.

On the 25th at noon, we cast anchor in Bressay
Sound, opposite Lerwick, the capital of the Shet-
land Isles.

This town is situated in Mainland, so called
from its being the principal of these Isles. It is
about half a mile long, and is irregularly built ;
but contains some good houses, and is inhabited by
about one thousand eight hundred persons. It is
the seat of the courts held by the Sheriff-depute,
or Stewart-depute. Two packets, or traders, hav-
ing good cabins, and tolerable accommodation for
passengers, sail occasionally between this and
Leith.

Lerwick derives its chief support from the courts
of law, and from the vessels employed in the whale-
fishery making this harbour their rendezvous.

Near the north end of the town stands Fort Char-
lotte, a small fortification mounting eighteen lanre
guns, from eighteen to thirty pounders, besides se-
veral very large field pieces. It commands the
north entry to Bressay Sound, and is garrisoned by
a small detachment of invalids.

In the neighbourhood of this town there is a cha-
lybeate spring, but it is<not much esteemed for its
medical virtues.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 7

Bressay Sound lies between Lerwick and Bres-
say Island, and forms an extensive and commodi-
ous harbour, in which 1000 vessels well found may
ride at all seasons in the greatest safety. Here the
Dutch herring fleet used to rendezvous about the
middle of June. This harbour has the particular
advantage of two entries, one from the south, and
another from the north.

On the outside of the north entry lies a sunk
rock, called the Unicorn. On this rock was
wrecked the Unicorn man-of-war sent out in pur-
suit of the Earl of Bothwell, who fled to Shet-
land ; hence the rock has its name. The paltry
village of Scallaway lies also on the Mainland, and
has an excellent harbour. Near this is the ancient
castle of Scallaway, built by one of the Earls of
Orkney.

These are the only two towns, or villages, in the
Shetland Isles.

Mainland is upwards of sixty miles long from
north to south ; and in some places upwards of
twelve miles in breadth ; it is so shaped, that no
part of it lies above three miles from the sea; and
consists of a great multitude of irregular promonto-
ries, and a vast number of peninsula? connected by
narrow isthmuses, insomuch that it abounds with
bays and harbours almost innumerable..

8 VOYAGE TO SPITZBEHGEN.

In the parish of North Mevan, a peninsula be-
longing to this Island, stands the cloud-capt
mountain of Rona, the highest in Shetland. It
is eight miles long, four broad, and three thou-
sand nine hundred and forty-four geometrical feet
above the level of the sea ; serving for a land-mark
to fishers and vessels coming from the Northern
Ocean. From the top of this lofty eminence the
eye commands an extensive and pleasing prospect,
stretching fifty miles at least in every direction.
The great number of small islands and peninsulas
scattered beneath, and often a distant view of ves-
sels, in summer, affords a most agreeable diversified
scene.

On the summit of this mountain stands a house,
called the watch-house, in which six or seven
men can sit. It is constructed of four large
stones, covered by two more for a roof, on the
top of which is erected a pyramidal tower of small
stones.

In the same parish stands a rock rising per-
pendicular on all sides to a vast height, which, at a
few miles'' distance, looks like a ship under full sail.
Near to this are two very high inaccessible pil-
lars, on which the large species of cormorants
breed. What is extraordinary, the rocks possessed
by these birds one year is deserted the next, and re-

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEX. 9

turned to again after being a year unpossessed.
This singular practice has been carried on time
immemorial.

Here is a small isle, called Dorholm, perforat-
ed by a vast arch, seventy feet in height, under
which boats fish, having light from an opening at
the top.

Next to this is the holm and isle of Stenness,
so much celebrated for the great number of kitti-
weaks which resort to it ; the young of which
being esteemed delicious food, are taken in great
abundance.

To the north of Stenness is the Maiden Sker-
ry, a rock so called from its having never been
trodden on by man. The lofty rock called the
Ocean Skerry, stands about two miles from this,
and serves as a good landmark for ships wanting
a harbour in their passage from the north.

Not far from this rock is the island of Papa,
having a natural cave of three entrances, through
which the tide ebbs and flows. It has several
apartments, and is wide enough to admit a large
boat with the oars at full length on each side.
This gloomy cavern grows gradually wider to-
wards the centre, which nature has ornamented
with a beautiful arch. Beyond this, the boat is

10 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

directed by a small gleam of light from an aper-
ture in the top.

The island of Bressay lies to the east of Main-
land, and is about four miles long, and two
broad.

Adjoining to this Island, and on the south-east
side of it, lies the small but fertile Island of Noss,
the south headland of which is not less than four
hundred and eighty feet in perpendicular height.
Opposite to this, and distant ninety-six feet from
the island, stands another perpendicular rock or
holm, of the same height, quite level at the top,
and producing excellent pasture for sheep.

To transport them there, however, might well
have been thought impossible; but human in-
genuity requires only the exhibition of difficulties
in order to overcome them. An islander climb-
ed up the rock, and having fastened some ropes
to stakes he drove into the soil on the top, threw
them across the intervening chasm to the head-
land, where they were in like manner fastened.
A cradle or basket was then drawn along these
ropes, and sheep are thus transported to, and
from the holm ; and the eggs or young of the
sea-fowl, which there breed in vast numbers, fall
an easy prey to the skill and industry of man.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 11

The adventurous islander who first ascended
the holm, and showed the possibility of joining it
to the island, from an excess of bravery, met with
an untimely end. Disdaining to pass over in the
cradle, and trusting that the same expertness which
had conducted him to the summit of the rock would
enable him to descend to its base, — he fell, and
wac dashed to pieces.

" Qucm si non tenuit, magnis tamen excidit ausis."

It may be observed, that both men and horses
are transported over the rapid rivers of South
America in a similar manner. Vid. Ull. Voyage
de VAmeriquc, vol. i. p. 358.

As there is a considerable discrepancy in au-
thors as to the height of this rock, and the breadth
of the chasm ; and not having myself an oppor-
tunity of examining it, I have followed the ac-
count given by the accurate Pennant in his Arc-
tic Zoology.

The erection of a light-house on the Island of
Noss would be of essential service to the interests
of navigation. Many valuable ships, and, among
others, a Russian frigate of 38 guns, have been
lost on the east coast of the Shetland Isles.

To the north of Mainland lies Yell, an Island
twenty miles long, and nearly twelve broad, with

12 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

several good harbours, or voes, as they are called
by the inhabitants.

Foula lies to the west of Mainland. It is
about three miles long, and one and a half broad,
and has only one harbour. This is called Ham,
and is much resorted to by fishermen. Foula is
thought by some to be that island which the
ancients reckoned the ultimate limit of the hr.bit-
able globe, and to which, therefore, they gave
the appellation of " Ultima Thule." This sup-
position is not founded solely on the mere analogy
of the name, but also on the authority of Tacitus,
who, speaking of the victories obtained by Agri-
cola, and how far he penetrated northward, uses
this expression : " Insulas quas Orcadas vocant
invenit domuitque ; d'ispecta est et Thule quadam-
tenus." Tacit. Vit. Agric. § 10. But though the
high land of Foula may be easily seen, in a clear
day, from the northern part of the Orkneys,
still it is doubtful whether this be really the island
so called ; because had the Roman fleet passed
to the north of the Orkneys, they must have seen
Mainland, Yell, and Unst, lying to the north of
Foula. It may be further observed, that the
description of Thule, as given by Pomp. Mela,
lib. 3, § 6, and Pliny, lib. 2, § 75, and lib. 4,
§10, is not reconcileable with the supposition of

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 13

its being identical with Foula. At Thule, says
Pomponius, Per Solstitium vero nullae (nodes
sunt) quod turn jam manifestior nonfulgorem
modo sed sui quoque partem maxirnam ostentat^
This phenomenon, as Vossius has observed, can
only belong to the 66th and 67th degree of la-
titude, and gives considerable countenance to the
opinion of Thule being the same with Iceland.

The statement of Pliny, who is not celebrated
for geographical accuracy, is alike irreconcileable
with either hypothesis, and belongs only to the Pole
itself.

These, (with the exception of Unst,) are all
the islands belonging to Shetland that are worth
notice, though they are nearly forty in number.
About seventeen of these are inhabited ; the rest
being inconsiderable, are called Holms, and used
only for pasture.

On our arrival in Bressay Sound, there were an-
chored twenty-six ships from London, Hull, and
Whitby, each of which, in turn, gave us three
cheers, which we as often returned. All these
ships were waiting for men, it being the place
where most of the ships bound to the Greenland
fishery call at to make up their complement.

The Captain finding men very scarce, and wa-
ges high, did not engage any hands at Lerwick.

14 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

We afterwards weighed anchor, and sailed out of
the north entrance for Balti Sound, Island of
Unst.

Balti Sound is in the middle of the east side of
the island, into which it stretches nearly two miles.
Before the entrance, is a large narrow island, called
Balti, whence the Sound derives its name, and
which shelters it from all winds, forming an excel-
lent safe harbour or anchoring place. If a ship be
leaky, there are several very commodious beaches
on which she may be laid until thoroughly repair-
ed. This harbour used to be the most frequented
of any in Shetland, especially by ships going to
Archangel and Greenland.

Unst, the remotest of the Shetland Isles, and
most northern part of his Britannic Majesty's do-
minions, is supposed to be about eight miles long
and four broad.

A hill called Vallafield rises within a mile and
a half of its northern extremity, and runs- directly
parallel to the western coast, to the very northern
point. It is six hundred feet high. At right an-
gles with this hill, stands Crossfield, nearly in the
middle of the island. To the north lies Saxaforth,
which is seven hundred feet high. It is the high-
est in the island, and may be seen upwards of forty
miles off the coast. A lull, called Vordhill, runs
parallel to the east coast.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEX. 15

Among these hills are tracts of level fertile
ground, and the highest hill is some feet covered
with black moss. Unst contains many fresh water
lochs. That of Cliff is two miles long, and nearly
half a mile broad. The banks of this loch exhibit
pleasant and most beautiful scenery. From this
loch a few smaller ones run to the southern part of
the island.

The headlands here rise to the height of sixty or
seventy fathoms ; but the shores of the bays and
harbours are low and sandy.

About this island are scattered here and there a
great many very small ones.

Around the coast are several curious natural
caves. One at Sha has its roof supported by oc-
tagonal pillars.

At Burra Firth are a vast number of small
caves, running from the sea under the hills. One
of these only is entered once a-year, and robbed of
the seals which frequent it. The rest are mostly
inaccessible.

To the east of this, under an arm of the hill of
Saxaforth, is a magnificent natural arch, three
hundred feet long, and of a considerable height,
through which a boat can row.

The Shetland Isles, (called by the Dutch, Zet-
land ; and, by the Danes, Yetland,) lie between

16 VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN.

sixty and sixty-one degrees of north latitude, and
have their longest day about nineteen, and their
shortest about five hours.

These islands, with those of the Orkneys, make
one of the counties of Scotland, which send a re-
presentative to the British Parliament.

The climate of these, as of all other isles of like
size, is far from being settled. The atmosphere is,
in general moist. They have also heavy snows,
but not much frost ; and are often visited by dread-
ful storms of wind, rain, and thunder, in so much
that the water is agitated even to the bottom of
these comparatively shallow seas.

Owing to the great refraction of northern lati-
tudes, for about three months in summer they en-
joy the sight of the sun almost without intermis-
sion ; but for the same space in winter, (especially
in December,) that luminary hardly rises above
the horizon, and is commonly obscured by clouds
and mists.

" The sun from far shows with a sickly face,
Too weak the fogs and mighty dews to chase."

In this gloomy season, the absence of day is
supplied partly by moon-light, and partly by the
radiance of the aurora borealis, or merry-dancers,
as they are called in these islands. These are

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 17

the constant attendants of clear evenings, and prove
great reliefs, amidst the gloom of the dark winter
night. They commonly appear at twilight, near
the horizon, of a dun colour, approaching to yel-
low ; sometimes continuing in that state for several
hours without any apparent motion, after which
they break out into streams of stronger light,
spreading into columns, and altering slowly into
ten thousand different shapes, varying their colours
from all the lines of yellow to the most obscure
russet. They often cover the whole hemisphere,
and then make the most brilliant appearance.
Their motions at these times are amazingly quick ;
and they astonish the spectator with the rapid
change of their form. They break out in places
where none were seen before, skimming briskly
along the heavens: are suddenly extinguished, and
leave behind an uniform dusky tract. This again
is brilliantly illuminated in the same manner, and
as suddenly left a dull blank. In certain nights
they assume the appearance of vast columns, on
one side of the deepest yellow, on the other declin-
ing away, till it become undistinguished from the
sky.

They have generally a strong tremulous motion
from end to end, which continues till the whole va-
nish. According to the state of the atmosphere,

18 VOYAGE TO SPTTZBERGEN.

they differ in colours. They often assume the co-
lour of blood, and make a most dreadful appearance.
The rustic sages represent these phenomena as
prognosticative of future events, and thereby af-
fright the gaping multitude with dread of war, fa-
mine, and pestilential devastations. Vid. Pen.
Arct. Zool. vol. i. p. 27.

The ebb tides here run north, and the flood tides
to the southward, unless on the north and south
extremities of the country, where they run east and
west ; but their rapidity is inconsiderable when
compared to that of the firths of Orkney.

The shores are generally lofty, and rise almost
perpendicular from the ocean.

I went out with the captain in one of the ship's
boats, and sailed round some of the headlands of
Unst. The scene was truly sublime : — fogs im-
mured their summits ; the noise, of the sea dashing
against the rocks;* and the screams of the eagles
and other birds of prey, which there enjoy perfect
security; combined with the sombre and terrific ap-
pearance exhibited by these bulwarks of nature, im-
pressed us with awe and a pleasing kind of asto-
nishment. The prospect to me was quite novel.
I had formerly been familiar only with champaign

" Planctus illisce cautibtcs widcc.

VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN. 19

countries ; but I had no difficulty in declaring, that
it was from some such scene as this only, that one
could form an adequate conception of natural mag-
nificence.

The face of the country exhibits a prospect of
black craggy mountains and marshy plains, inter-
spersed with some verdant spots which appear
smooth and fertile. Neither tree nor shrub is to
be seen, except the juniper and heath.

'* Throughout the horrid wild no tree was seen,
Earth, clad in russet, scorn 'd the lively green."

This want of trees and shrubs is the more re-
markable, as in different parts of these islands there
are evident marks of their having been once a wood-
ed country. In the island of Foula are often found
the remains of large trees laid bare by the violence
of some tempest, carrying away the strata which
covered them. At present, however, no kind of
wood can be made grow ; and it is found extremely
difficult to cultivate even the lowest and most com-
mon shrub. This decrease of vegetation has not
been satisfactorily accounted for.

The nature of the soil is very different. In
some places it consists of deep moss, with a sandy
bottom ; in others the moss is only about a foot deep

20 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

over a stratum of clay. The cultivated parts con-
sist generally of a mixture of clay and small stories.
In some places there is abundance of tough clay,
similar to that used in Britain in the manufacture
of bricks or pottery.

No coal has hitherto been discovered in these
Islands, but in several of them are found limestone,
freestone, rock-crystal, corals, white spar, iron-ore,
copper-ore, sulphur, fuller's earth, and veins of va-
riegated jasper.

Springs of fresh water are frequent in the moun-
tains ; and there are numerous lakes and streams,
abounding in salmon, trout, &c

Along the shores are a great many ancient
towers, originally known by the names of Burrows
or Duns ; but by the inhabitants they are now
called Wart or Wardhills. They were so arrang-
ed, that the whole Islands could, by signals from
one to another, be apprised of approaching dan-
ger in a very short time. Sometimes they were
used for state prisons. Vid. Baxter, Gloss. Antiq.
Brit.

Some of these are surrounded with dry ditches,
others with walls. I saw one in Unst, called Sna-
burg, which has both a wet and a dry ditch. One
of these ditches is cut with great labour through
the solid rock.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 21

There is another in Fetlar, (one of the most re-
mote of the Shetland Isles,) in the form of a Ro-
man Camp, having in the middle a rectangular
area surrounded by a wall, and that by an earthen
rampart of the same figure. Vid. Plate, Pen. Arct.
Zool. vol. i. p. 33.

Druidical circles of stones are also common here.
There have also been found swords made of the
bones of large fish, flint heads of arrows, flint hat-
chets, &c.

In the Island of Unst are two curious sepulchral
circles. The largest consist of three concentric
circles, its greatest being fifty feet in diameter.
The outermost circle is formed of small stones, the
other two of earth. Through all these is a single
narrow entrance to a tumulus which stands in the
centre.

The other circle is considerably less, and has on-
ly two rings made of earth.

An extensive burying-place has also been dis-
covered in the Isle of Westra, by the violence of
the winds blowing away the sands which covered
the bodies twenty feet below the surface of the
earth. Near this are a great many graves, discov-
ered only by a few short upright stones set in the
level sand.

22 VOYAGE TO SPITZBEItGEN.

Among the human bones have been found those
of oxen, horses, dogs, and sheep ; as also battle-
axes, different kinds of swords, brazen daggers,
knives, spoons, cups, curious stones, beads, &c.
At one time there was found a thigh bone closely
encircled by a ring of gold. Pen. Arct. Zool. vol. i.
p. 36.

In the more early stages of society, this custom
of burying weapons, and the rude symbols of wor-
ship along with the dead, was perhaps every where
practised. The Catacombs of Egypt, and the Tu-
muli of Peru, abound with relics of this description.
The following verses of Virgil allude to the same
ceremony :

" Some in the flames, * the wheels and bridles throw,
The swords and helmets of the vanquish'd foe ;
Some the known shields their brethren bore in vain,
And unsuccessful jav'lins of the slain."

Pitt's Virg. lib. 1. xi. 206.

It has been long since observed, that the two ex-
tremes of heat and cold are alike unfavourable to
the growth of such animals as may be considered
indigenous to the temperate zone. Excessive heat
in the one case induces relaxation ; while the con-

* The funeral piles.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 23

trary extreme diminishes the vital principle, and
stunts the growth of the animal. The animals
common to Britain are, in the Shetland Isles, of a
greatly reduced size. Their horses, familiar to us
by the name of shelties, are very numerous, and
seldom more than nine or ten hands high. They
are covered with long hair, and are remarkably
strong, spirited, and not unhandsome. They are
chiefly used for carrying home peats, and never re-
ceive any food but what they gather from the scanty
herbage of the ground. Neither are they ever
put into a house, so that many of them die in the
winter.

The steadiness with which these ponies travel
through the most rugged paths is surprising. In
both 1806 and 1S07, I made several expeditions
into the country mounted on them. An islander
preceded me to point out the way. At first I
thought my brains must have been dashed out, but
I soon recovered from this panic. In the most
wretched and precipitous paths, the animal never
made a single false step, and also travelled with
considerable agility.

The Shetland cows are also very small, and, ow-
ing to the scarcity of fodder, give but little milk.
They are kept close in the house, summer and
winter ; and are littered with heath, and sometimes
with peat mould.

S24» VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN.

The women of Shetland are, in general, ignorant
of making cheese ; but their butter, when manufac-
tured for sale, is equal to any that can be found
elsewhere. That made for the payment of rent is
of a much inferior quality.

It was an old custom here to pay their rent one
half in grease butter at Lammas, and the other half
in money at Martinmas. This custom, however, is
generally relinquished, and the butter converted
into money.

Their method of making butter being curious,
I have thought proper to describe it. They fill
their churn with milk, which they churn in the
usual way till the oleaginous part be made to sepa-
rate from the serum. They then throw in some
red-hot stones, and continue churning till the butter
float at the top, when it is taken out, and carefully
washed and salted. The butter-milk being boiled,
what floats on the surface is used as food, and the
residue is esteemed an excellent beverage ; and when
kept over winter, they reckon it an efficacious anti-
dote against the bad effects arising from the con-
stant use of fish.

Their swine are of a remarkably small size,
short-backed, and easily fed. A pig ready for the
spit is often sold at two shillings.

3

VOYAGE TO SPITZBEHGEN. 25

Their sheep (the most profitable part of their
live stock, and which are calculated to be from
110,000 to 120,000 in number,) are likewise of
very small growth. One between three and five
years old, sells from four to seven shillings.

In winter, especially when the ground is covered
with snow, these animals feed on the sea-weed, with
which the shores are covered. This they resort to
by a kind of natural instinct ; for as soon as the
tide begins to ebb, the whole body of them (al-
though feeding several miles off) make for the sea-
shores, where they stay as long as the tide will per-
mit them, and then return to their usual walks.

The wool of these sheep is remarkably soft and
fine; but there is so much diversity in its quality,
that some stockings at L.2, 2s. per pair, and others
at sixpence, are made from it. The common price
of tolerable good stockings is from five shillings to
half-a-guinea per pair. They are all knitted. The
very fine ones, which are esteemed superior in value
to silk, will pass through a small finger ring. The
different colours of the wool are white, black, light
grey, and sometimes a russet. The sheep are
never shorn ; but early in June the wool is pulled
off without injuring the animal. In this process
care is taken to leave the long hairs which grow

c

26 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

amongst the wool, by which means the young wool
is sheltered, and the animal kept warm and com-
fortable.*

The people of these isles have attempted to in-
troduce a larger breed of sheep from Britain, but
the inclemency of the climate rendered their la-
bours abortive. This verifies what the famous
Scottish historian says of these Isles :

i( Adeo jera, ut nullum animal nisi illic na~
tumferatr Buch. lib. 1. § 50.

Here are neither hares nor foxes, though rabbits
are plenty ; the skins of which are sold at about
half-a-guinea per dozen. The flesh of these is no-
thing inferior to those of Britain, though they are
somewhat less in size.

The other wild quadrupeds which have reached
these islands, are the otter, brown rat, common
mouse, fetid shrew, and bat.

* Shetland sheep seem to be peculiarly calculated for an insular
situation, hence they are distinguished by Sir John Sinclair by
the name of " Island sheep."

" It has been lately discovered that the skin of this breed, with
the fleece on, may be prepared so as to make a beautiful fur ; and
their excellent quality may probably make them fit to be convert-
ed into morocco leather, the raw material of which cannot easily
be procured in sufficient quantities." Vid. Report of the Society
for Improvement of British Wool.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 27

The Shetland Isles abound with several kinds
of birds, as curlews, snipes, grouse, green plovers,
redshanks, herons, and other waders. The short-
eared owl is also frequently seen here, and makes
its nest on the ground. This species never flies,
like other owls, in search of prey, but sits quiet
on an eminence, watching like a cat the appear-
ance of mice or other vermin. No partridges
are found in these Isles, and many of the other
birds migrate to a warmer clime on the approach of
winter.

The lofty cliffs impending over the ocean, are
the haunts of eagles, falcons, ravens, hawks, hood-
ed crows, &c. The Erne-eagles, which are very
ravenous, and destructive among the lambs, possess
the most exalted precipices, and, like the falcons,
will not admit of any society. This, Pliny, in his
Hist. Nat. lib. 10. c. 3. beautifully expresses :—
" Unum par Aquilarum magno ad populandum
tractu, ut satietur, indiget ; determinant ergo
spatia nee in proximo pr&dantur?

A premium of three shillings and fourpence is ob-
tained for killing one of these eagles ; and smaller
premiums are given for killing less destructive
birds.

Here are also seen grey linnets, larks, sparrows,
red-breasts, wrens, landrails, and stone chatters.

28 VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN.

The tame fowl are, geese, ducks, pigeons, dung-
hill fowl, and some turkeys.

To the winding bays resort swans, dunter, clack,
and soland geese ; teal, Greenland doves, shearwa-
ters, kittiweaks, (which are amazingly numerous,)
different kinds of gulls, cormorants, and other aqua-
tic birds.

In the islands of Unst and Foula is bred a bird
of the web-footed kind, called Skua, about two feet
long, having its claws sharp, strong, and hooked,
like those of a kite. It preys on the lesser wa-
ter fowl, like a rapacious land bird, and is so re-
markably courageous and fierce in defending its
young, that it will even repel the eagle from its
haunts. Some birds are driven here by the frost
from the inclement north, and pass their winter in
the Shetland bays ; whilst others, (mostly of the
palmated kind,) retire in the spring to more south-
ern latitudes. The guillemot remains in these
islands till November.

This is a very pretty bird, about one foot and a
half long. Its bill is about three inches long; head, *
neck, back, wings, and tail of a deep mouse-colour.
Its breast and belly milk white. There is another
bird, called the stormy petrel, of a black and white
colour, with a black bill much hooked at the end.
It breeds commonly among the loose stones on

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 29

the shore ; and, bounding into the water, often
affrights the superstitious fishermen, who take
it to be an omen of some impending disaster.
These birds are found at all distances from land,
in all parts of the Atlantic, from Great Britain to
the coast of North America ; and follow ships in
great flocks. On account of their clamour at night
(being silent through the day) they are hated by
sailors, who (imagining they forbode a storm) call
them witches.

Our sailors shot many of these birds, but that
had not much effect in making the others keep a
more respectful distance.

Many of the inhabitants of these islands feed,
during the season, on the eggs and young of wild
birds. These they procure in a very dangerous
manner from cliffs, in some places from sixty to
one hundred fathoms high. The attempt is
mostly made from above. The dauntless adven-
turer descends by a rope made either of straw or
hog's bristles, and held by a person at the top.
Oftentimes the rope breaks, and the unhappy
fowler is either dashed to pieces or drowned.
The necessity of shifting the rope from place to
place, with the impending weight of the fowler and
his prey, renders the attempt much more hazard-
ous.

SO VOYAGE TO SPITZBEIiGEN.

In Foula they drive a small stake or dagger in
the soil at the top of the precipice, to which they
fasten a fishing line. By this slender assistance
they descend to the place where the nests are,
which they plunder, and ascend again with amaz-
ing intrepidity. This manner of fowling was, by
the Norwegian law, considered a species of sui-
cide.

What is still more extraordinary, custom has
so hardened the Shetlanders against all sense of
danger, that they will wander among the rocks
at night, in order to surprise the old fowl upon the
nest.

The eggs and young of the black-backed and
herring gulls, compose the chief part of the booty
acquired in these predatory and desperate at-
tempts.

The seas* abound with cod, turbot, haddock,
ling, and two certain species of northern fish,
called torsk and opah. Lobsters, crabs, oysters,
&c. are also very plentiful. At certain seasons
vast shoals of herrings visit these shores. In June
they appear in surprising columns, and perform
the circuit of the islands ; after which they totally

• Divilice eis sunt a mari, ab omni parte summa piscandi com~
moditale objecta. Buch. lib. 1. § 50.

VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN. 31

disappear, especially in time of storm. After they
first approach from the north, the appearance of
the ocean is materially altered. They are divid-
ed into columns of five or six miles long, and
three or four broad ; and, in their passage, the wa-
ter is propelled before them like an impetuous cur-
rent. Sometimes they sink for a little while, then
rise again to the surface. When the sun shines,
the appearance of this finny tribe is most beau-
tiful, being similar to a spacious field of variegated
gems.

They afford a sure subsistence to vast multitudes
of birds, of whales, and other fish ; and, to com-
plete their destruction, man himself joins in the
common chase.

For this purpose, vessels from many nations used
to rendezvous in Bressay Sound, to lay in treasures
of this useful species.*

" The Dutch formerly carried on this fishery very extensively.
It has, however, been on the decline with them ever since the year
1703. They had then about 500 busses in Shetland, under the
convoy of four ships of war, but a French fleet of six ships of war
sent out for the purpose, fell in with the Dutch, and, an engage-
ment taking place, the Dutch Admiral's ship was sunk, on which
the remaining three ran away and made their escape ; whereupon,
the French fleet sailed for the entry of Bressay Sound, sent their

32 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

The fishing business here engrosses the whole
attention of the men. To this they constantly re-
sort in all seasons and weathers, in small light skiffs
which they get from Norway. These boats go out
about noon, and do not return until three, and
sometimes six o'clock the following day. During
that time they often go twelve leagues from land.
The yearly export of fish to foreign markets, par-
ticularly those of Spain and Italy, amounts to se-
veral hundred tons.

Agriculture, in the Shetland Isles, is at a very
low ebb. The land being in general very barren,
rocky, and chiefly depending on the tillage of the
women, yields but scanty produce. The labour,
in the lesser isles, is performed by digging over
the soil like a garden. Their spade is narrow,
like that used in cutting peats, and not at all si-
milar to that with which they dig in Britain and
Ireland.

After the seed is sown, (which they do in a very
awkward manner, going backwards as if sowing
onion seeds,) the women drag a kind of harrow,
made wholly of wood, over it, taking bold of a

boats into the bay, and burned and destroyed about 400 of the
Dutch fishing vessels, sparing only a number barely sufficient to
carry home the crews of the whole...

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 33

straw rope fastened to the harrow, and passing over
their shoulders. This I have seen them do, at the
same time that the men were lying beside them
looking on.

In Mainland, where the farms are more level
and extensive, they make use of a sort of plough,
such as was common in times of remote antiquity,
and which a man may carry to any distance in
one hand. The ploughman walks by the side of
the plough, which he directs by a small handle
fixed on the top of it. The driver (if so he may-
be called) goes before the oxen, and pulls them
on by a rope tied round their horns ; and some
with spades follow, to level the furrow and break
the clods. Such seed as I saw, was not so gor 1
as that called drawings, or small corn, in Brit? ■
and was also chaffy, and seemingly of a bad
cies. From the appearance of a stubble, ; ' jt
evident that their crops were neither luxuri L^
prolific.

So prevalent is their rase for fish' , . ,

iii i • i , -. • , AV& that the

only land used in husbandry is t> , ,

. .iat along the sea

coast, which bears no proportio- ... , .

. . , .a to that lying waste

and uncultivated.

In some places where r .,._..

. ... the soil is fertile, the crops

are early, especially ,. . , ...

where the substratum is hme-

c.5

,■-"=.»*-**

..'-»•

34 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

stone ; but the seasons are so various, that it is im-
possible to state the precise time of harvest.

The grain crop consists of a small kind of black
or grey oats, and a species of barley, commonly
called bear or big. The oatmeal has a bitter
burnt taste. The potatoes, however, are tolerably
good.

Very little time is, in general, devoted to ga-
thering of manure. Sometimes they make use
of sea-weed either by itself, or made into small
dunghills with cow-dung or earth. Notwithstand-
ing that they have abundance of limestone and
peats, they seldom use lime as a manure, owing to
which neglect, and the want of fallowing, they have
frequently a plentiful crop of weeds.

There is a very great stop to agricultural im-
I*ovements still to be considered. Most of the
teifnts hold their farm from year to year by a
verbl bargain ; and the stipulations of the very
few w;tten leaSes that are granted, consist chief-
ly in binu^g tne tenant assiduously to attend his
landlords nsi;ng as l0ng as ne possesses his farm.
Now, any failure'^ this is a forfeiture of the agree-
ment. But he may labour the land as he pleases ;
no question is asked ^ this head by the land-
lord.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBEJRGEN. 35

The grain is cut down in the usual way, and
when fit, is carried home either on the shoulders of
the women, or on horseback.

There are not more than two or three carts
in these islands, and these are only kept by gentle-
men by way of novelty. Neither are there any
roads, public or private, except the footpaths made
over the hills by the horses, cattle, and sheep.

The landlords build the farm houses at their
own expense. They are generally mean, low huts,
into which a person must enter in a bending pos-
ture ; and if he have not a guide (unless he be ac-
quainted with the windings of the fabric,) he will
scarcely find the apartment occupied by the family,
they and their cattle being, for the most part, in-
habitants of the same building*. They have the
fire in the middle of the house. The beds are
commonly like those of ships, with sliding doors.
A table, a pot, and some stools, are the principal
furniture to be seen.

Whether there were any chests, presses, cup-
boards, &c. in any of the huts which I visited, the
continual smoke would not admit being ascertained.
It is evident, however, that they are exempt from

• «.

-Tgnemque Laremque

Et pecus et dominos communi clauderet umbra."— Juvenal.

c 6

36 VOYAGE TO SFITZBERGEN.

the window tax, as they have only a small hole be-
sides that of the chimney, on which is a door to shut
and open occasionally.

The office-houses (where there are any) are
truly despicable. These the tenants build at their
own expense, and in the cheapest manner they
can, on account of the uncertainty of their te-
nure.

Here are few inclosures, so that the land lies
almost wholly in open fields ; and by this breach of
agricultural economy their crops are exposed to the
ravages of the numerous sheep, cattle, &c. which
feed on the commons without herdsmen.

These islanders trade chiefly to Leith, London,
and Hamburgh ; and with Dutch fishermen, and
such ships as visit their coasts. The chief exports
are linen and woollen yarn, rugs, stockings, butter,
dried fish, herrings, oil, feathers, skins of various
kinds, and kelp ; the manufacture of which was
first commenced in 1780. The commodities im-
ported are corn, oatmeal, spirits, tobacco, lines and
hooks, salt, &c

Here the Greenland ships are frequently served
with mittens, night-caps, comforters, wigs, &c.

The inhabitants are sure to come with their
boats alongside such ships as happen to call in

VOYAGE TO SPITZBEItGEN. 37

here. They bring with them fish, fowl, eggs, &c.
for which they get beef, pork, flour, meal, or such
provisions as they may wish to have. They choose
rather to barter than sell for money, probably for
this reason, that they generally get more than the
value of their commodities ; at least, they do not
fail to ask plenty, and have cunning enough to lay
down their case as very deplorable, which tends to
excite in the breasts of commanders of vessels that
sympathy which is so peculiar to sailors. The
Shetlanders, by these means, find a Very good
market for such things as they have to dispose of,
and generally get as much meat and drink as they
can take while on board.

The Shetland Isles are divided into twelve pa-
rishes, in which are placed twelve ministers, the
office of some of whom is very laborious, there be-
ing different small islands in one parish : besides,
the paths are remarkably bad, and the people so
wretchedly poor, that they cannot afford to accom-
modate their pastor in times of public examina-
tions, visitations, &c. insomuch, that unless he
carry with him, on those occasions, some store
of viaticum, he must content himself with the
soothing hope of a hearty meal on his return-
home.

38 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

These islands enjoy the advantage of parochial
schoolmasters, having the salaries allowed on the
Scottish establishment ; by which means the in-
habitants are all taught to read, write, and un-
derstand arithmetic ; and among those of any
rank, the Latin, Greek, and French languages are
not unknown, as also the rudiments of the mathe-
matics.

The English language prevails in all these is-
lands ; but they being a long time subject to the
Kings of Norway, it is spoken with the accent of
that country, and is mixed with a great many
Norwegian words, especially in Foula. Neither
here nor in the Orkneys is the Gaelic language
known.

English as well as Danish money is current here ;
but neither species is superabundant.

According to the latest account, this group of is-
landscontains 22,379 inhabitants, among whom are
about twenty considerable proprietors, and a great
many small ones. The whole land-rent amounts
to about £5000 per annum, which is a small
sum when compared with the profits the proprie-
tors make by the fisheries, in which they are all
concerned. This business is carried on by the
tenants : an affair which tends much to affect the
state of the common people at large. The land-

VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN. 39

lords, as before mentioned, make their lands sub-
servient to this trade, by setting them in small por-
tions to fishermen ; and, in order the more to pro-
pagate the human species for the purpose of fish-
ings the young men get premiums of small subdi-
visions of land, (though without lease,) on their
taking wives. The poor, who thus swallow the
matrimonial bait, getting more numerous families
than they can maintain, and having no way of sup-
porting themselves but by the fish which they take>
(and which they are obliged to sell to their land-
lords at a fixed price,) are often necessitated, either
to go on board such merchant vessels as call in
here, or to enter voluntarily into his Majesty's
navy. In many places, three or four families are
found on a farm which, thirty or forty years ago,
was possessed only by one.

Unmarried men have another inducement to en-
ter into matrimony ; for when government requires
a number of men for the Navy, the proprietors
take good care to send off those who are unmar-
ried. By these factitious regulations, the popula-
tion has become superabundant, insomuch that
the produce of the islands does not support their
inhabitants more than seven or eight months in the
year.

40 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

Before the proprietors of land became so deeply en-
gaged in the fishing business, juvenile or premature
marriages were, in these islands, looked on as next
to a crime, because thereby the population might
increase to such a degree as to become ruinous and
oppressive to the whole community. For this rea-
son, a regulation was made against marriage, un-
less when the parties could produce evidence that
they possessed L.40 Scots, or L.3, 6s. 8d. Sterling.
This salutary law is now never enforced, to the
great prejudice of the whole inhabitants. It is
curious to observe how the principles of Mr. Mal-
thus accommodate themselves to, and receive illus-
tration from* the smallest societies.'

The secluded inhabitants of these solitary isles
are very unhealthy, and seem to complain of one
general disorder, which is of a phthisical and scro-
phulous nature, the cause of which evidently seems
to be this : the men are exposed to intense cold at
the fishing, where they remain twenty-four, thirty,
and sometimes forty-eight hours in open boats ; get
their feet wet : and when they come home have but
very sorry cheer to accommodate themselves with ;
nor is their daily employment sufficiently laborious
to prove a healthful exercise. Hence proceed colds,
coughs, phthisis pulmonalis, and every thing which

VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN. 41

«

renders the frame a complete nest of complicated
disorders. The women above the common rank,
lead a very sedentary life, and seldom appear out of
doors, unless at church, which, probably on account
of its great distance from them, they do not often
visit. Besides, tea has found its way into these
dreary regions, a constant use of which is the welU
known enemy of those who lead sedentary lives, and
do not take exercise sufficient to promote the neces-
sary secretions. Hence come on relaxation of the
solids, indigestion, flatulency, glandular obstruc-
tions, hysterics, &c.

None of the female sex here appeared so healthy,
and blooming as those employed in cultivating the
ground.

During our stay here in both 1S06 and 1S07,
I was asked to visit different sick patients, and
found a private infirmary almost in every house.
To some of those I hope I gave useful medicines ;
to others I gave only some simples to satisfy them^
as I found they were fast hastening to that " bourn,
whence no traveller returns.'"

Medical advice and drugs are at a very exorbi-
tant price here; and such cordials as wine, &c. can-
not be procured for love or money. As the Captain
was so charitable as to allow me to give medicines
gratis, to such as were really objects of compassion,

42 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

I took nothing for my trouble in preparing them,
or visiting the sick ; knowing, that if God should
be pleased to make me an instrument in relieving
the distressed, I would be more than amply repaid.

April 3. Having got eight men at Balti Sound,
we weighed anchor at ten A. M. and sailed out of
the north entrance with a fine south-west breeze.

For some days we had fine clear frosty weather,
during which time no particular occurrence took
place.

On the 12th, at four P. M. we saw the long nar-
row island of Jan Mayen, (so calkd from the name
of its discoverer,) bearing north-east, and distant
about ten leagues. It lies in about 71° N. Lat.
and 8° 15' E. Long, from Ferro. Vid. Foister's
Hist. Vay. to the North, p. 422..

This island was once, in honour of Prince Mau-
rice of Nassau, called Mauritius Island in Green-
land, to distinguish it from Mauritius island on the
N. W. point of Spitzbergen. It stretches from
N. E. to S. W. The north end rises into a high
mountain called Beerenberg, from its being haunted
by bears ; though its steepness renders it inaccessi-
ble to man. A hundred yards from the shore the
water is about sixty fathoms deep : but a little far-
ther out no soundings have been found.

The seas neighbouring to this island were former-

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 43

ly much frequented by whale fishers, (especially
from 1611 to 1633,) but the whales are now sel-
dom found here, having withdrawn to the ice, where
they enjoy more security.

The bears, sea-horses, and other voracious ma-
rine animals, together with the foxes and carni-
vorous birds, not finding so good a supply of whale
carrion as usual, have also, in a great measure, de-
serted the coast-
On the land are still seen some vestiges of those
temporary buildings where the fishers of that time
boiled their blubber. But this practice of boiling
blubber in the North has long since been discon-
tinued, and is now performed on the return of the
vessels to their respective ports.

In 1633, seven sailors were left in Jan May en
Island to winter; but on the 7th of June following
they were all found dead, (chiefly of the scurvy,)
by some people from Holland, who arrived there.
It was evident that they had lived through the win-
ter, as their journal was carried down to the 30th of
April, soon after which they must have fallen vic-
tims to disease.

It is necessary to observe, that the Dutch at this
period entertained hopes of being able to found
some permanent establishments in the North, and
that for this purpose men were sometimes left in

44 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

these islands, to make observations during the win-
ter. The wretched fate that generally attended
these adventurers, at last induced the States-Gene-
ral totally to relinquish the attempt..

Hera we fell in with some streams of ice, which
we went through in search of seals ; but of these we
saw very few, and got none. Spoke a brig from
Bergen. 15th, One sail in sight.

On the 16th we were encountered by a violent
storm from the north ; and after running, as near
as we could calculate, about fifty leagues in a
south-westerly direction, we were met by a great
number of birds ; this clearly showed us to be at
no great distance from land, and had we continued

o J

under the same course, we perhaps would soon have
fallen in with Iceland ; here however, we lay-to
under close reefed top-sails, till the weather mode-
rated, and on the 17th we sailed in a north-east di-
rection. The weather at this time was so hazy that
we could not take an observation ; and after a gale,
and lying-to, not much reliance can be placed on
the reckoning by account.

I may here remark that top-sails are now gene-
jally reckoned the best sails for a ship to ly-to un-
der. They are not exposed to accidents from be-
calming in a heavy sea ; and, from their height,
they have more power to steady the ship than a sail

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 45

of treble size nearer the deck ; top-sails used for ly-
ins-to should be made of stouter canvass than usual.

22d, The Greenland fleet in sight.

23d, Eighteen sail in company. Lay-to about
three quarters of an hour to get some fresh water
ice, which is known from that of salt' water by its
crystalline transparency, theother being very opaque.
We occasionally brought large pieces of it on board
in a boat, which were piled upon the deck to serve
as water for the use of the men, and had also a hogs-
head filled with it for the tea-water in the cabin.

24th, Several showers of snow. To-day we
passed that solitary spot called Bear, or Cherry
Island, in Lat. 74° 30' N. Long. 19° 5' E. The
surface of this island is mountainous, craggy, and
dreary in its aspect ; exhibiting in some places a
scene of black, stupendous precipices ; and in others
lofty eminences covered with snow.

The ears of people approaching this island are
incessantly assailed with the sounds of the impetu-
ous waves dashing against the rugged shores ; the
crashing collision of floating ice ; the discordant
notes of innumerable birds ; the barking of arctic
foxes ; the snorting of walruses*, and the dreadful
rqaring of the polar bears.

* These animals have been found here, lying huddled together,
a thousand in a heap.

46 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

The currents near the island are remarkably
rapid, which renders it impracticable to cast an-
chor within two miles of it, where soundings can
be had in twenty or thirty fathoms. Vid. Forster,
p. 329.

In 1604, this island was visited by a ship com-
manded by Stephen Bennet, who, in this and
many succeeding voyages, killed prodigious num-
bers of sea-horses, or walruses. He discovered
also abundance of lead ore under a mountain, (by
him named Mount Misery, from its truly wretch-
ed and forlorn appearance,) of which he brought
upwards of thirty tons home to England. Here
are also found coals of an excellent quality, and
very fine virgin silver of different forms. Vid.
Forster, p. 332.

Near to Cherry Island is a small spot called
Gull Island, on which were likewise found seve-
ral veins of lead ore and coals.

25th, Clear weather and hard frost.

26th, Clear weather, and a considerable quan-
tity of ice.

27th, Some snow ; ice increasing.

28th, At ten A. M. the ship was made fast to
a large iceberg, the lowest part of which was
about ten, and the highest forty feet from the

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEX. 47

surface of the water. Its circumference was con-
siderable.

These floating mountains of ice, to which Dutch
navigators have given the name of Icebergs, and
which are of all different magnitudes, are origi-
nally formed on land. The sun, even in those
high latitudes, has a considerable power in melt-
ing the snow on the mountains, which, running
down into the valleys, and again congealing, seg-
ments frequently break off from the entire mass,
and fall into the sea. The ice of which these
floating masses are composed, is of various colours.
The original fresh water ice is sometimes incrust-
ed with that formed from the sea water, and this
again is covered with new ice formed of fallen
snow. The different positions of the spectator
relatively to the incidental rays of light, varies
likewise the seeming hue of the whole. In some
parts it emulates the vividness of the emerald, and
in others, the most beautiful sapphire. When
the iceberg is totally composed of melted snow,
which is sometimes but partly the case, the re-
fraction of the solar rays is the most beautiful ;
and the appearance of those floating mountains
on the side opposite the sun, presents such a blaze
of light, intermingled with different glowing tints,
as totally to baffle description.

48 VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN.

" Frost," says the eloquent Pennant, " sports
with these icebergs, and gives them majestic as
well as other singular forms. Masses have been
seen, assuming the shape of a Gothic church with
arched windows and doors, and all the rich dra-
pery of that style, composed of what an Arabian
tale would scarcely dare to relate, of crystal of
the richest sapphirine blue ; tables with one or
more feet ; and often immense fiat roofed temples,
like those of Luxor on the Nile, supported by
round transparent columns of cerulean hue, float
by the astonished spectator."

I have not unfrequently seen floating masses
of ice which had evidently been formed of drifted
snow, since they wanted the compactness and so-
lidity of those formed by the melting of the snows.
Many of these contained trees, and (as there are
no trees in Spitzbergen) must have been origin-
ally formed in the northern parts of Russia or
America, and, being carried by the rapid rivers
of these countries into the ocean, had drifted into
these latitudes. These trees have often the appear-
ance of being burnt at the ends ; and Olafsen
mentions, that the violent friction which they fre-
quently experience, occasionally sets them on fire,
and exhibits the extraordinary phenomenon of
flame and smoke issuing from this frozen ocean.
— Malte-Bruv, tome v. 241.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 49

Between one and two o'clock this morning, I
was much entertained by the sun darting his rays
through the cabin windows.

30th, Cast off from the iceberg, and endeavour-
ed to force our way through the ice in a northern
direction, till it became so thick and close around
us, that we were forced to make fast to another large
iceberg, where a small part of the surface of the
water was free from ice.

May 1st, In the morning, about twelve or one
o'clock, the Garland was put upon the main-top-
gallant stay by the last married man, as is usual
among the Greenland ships. It is formed by the
crossing of three small hoops in the form of a
globe, and is covered with ribbons, &c. The
crew on this occasion blacken their faces with
a mixture of grease and soot, and dance round
the decks, their chief musical instruments being
frying-pans, mess-kettles, fire-irons, &c. This
rough mode of festivity they continued till the
Captain ordered them a plentiful allowance of
grog. After regaling themselves with the very
acceptable donation of their commander, they
washed themselves, and began to coil away the
boat lines, and prepare for the fishing. In every
boat there is a line, 720 fathoms long, to the end
of which is fixed a harpoon about eight feet five

D

50 VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN.

inches long; the iron part is better than two
feet long, and is extremely sharp. On each side
of the point is placed a barb, or wither, diverging
from the harpoon at an angle of nearly forty de-
grees, to prevent the instrument from flinching
and losing its hold. There are also several lan-
ces, or spears, about six feet long, the points of
which are about two inches broad : by these the
whales are killed after being struck with the har-
poons.

A boat's crew consists of a harpooner, a boat-
steerer, a line-manager, and three or four men,
more or less, according to the size of the boat.

2d, Cast off, and made for a large iceberg,
one mile to the east, to which we made fast, and
were soon after closed in by the ice. This ice-
berg was twenty feet high, and mostly composed
of fresh water ice. We had not been above two
hours in this situation before a strong gale clear-
ed away the ice, and we discovered South Cape
in Spitzbergen, bearing north-east, distant thirty
miles.

May 3d, Sailed for Charles Island on the west
coast of Spitzbergen, the most southern part of
which is in latitude 78°.

We were much impeded in our course by ice,
which, according to the Greenland phrase, was

VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN. 51

very rank around us. The ship struck occasion-
ally on masses of considerable size, to the no little
surprise of those sailors who were making their
first voyage hither. We had this day a piece of
fresh beef cooked for dinner, which we brought
from England ; it tasted as well, and was as full
of juice as if newly killed : as did all the fowls
which we got at Shetland : These were hung by
the legs to a rope upon the quarter-deck ; but
neither plucked nor gutted. Our eggs likewise
preserved their good taste. This proves the an-
tiseptic power of intense cold.

4th, Intense frost. Ice-bound, with several sail
in company.

5th, Strong gales. Unhung the rudder.
6th, The ship towed through very rank ice,
by four boats manned by half the crew. Ten sail
in company.

7th, Made fast to an iceberg about seventy
yards long and forty broad, and about twenty
feet above the surface of the water. It was very
much furrowed, and, from its great depth, drifted
but little, while the lesser fragments of ice were
driven past it at the rate of about two knots an
hour.

I had this day a complete proof of the fallacy
of the opinion, which maintained that salt water

d2

52 VOYAGE TO SPITZBEUGEN.

did not freeze. All around the ship, ice was form-
ed on the surface of the water ; I observed the spi-
culae darting with considerable velocity, and in an
immense variety of forms. This ice, when newly
formed, is of a bay colour, and when it has attain-
ed the thickness of window glass is called by the
sailors, hay ice. It is rough on the surface, and
opaque ; if the frost be not interrupted by a swell
of the sea, or storm, the salt-water ice often extends
to an immense distance. It is by the Greenland
sailors termed afield, when of such extent that the
eye cannot reach its bounds. The smaller frag-
ments of salt-water ice are called seal mea-
dows, and on them these animals often sport by
hundreds.

In storms large masses of ice are frequently pil-
ed on each other, to a considerable height ; these
are called packs, and often assume a very fantastic
appearance. The grinding noise occasioned by the
collision of those huge masses of ice against each
other, and against the ship, not only fills the mind
of the auditor with a degree of horror, but, for
a considerable time, deprives him of the sense of
hearing.

Storms in those seas are so extremely danger-
ous, that the most powerful pens could convey but
a faint representation of their horrific sublimity. —

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 53

The fury of the ocean is but the least of the
enemies the sailor has to contend with. If the
ship, during a storm, should be encircled by ice,
there is hardly a possibility of avoiding impend-
ing fate.

8th, Discovered the south point of Prince
Charles' Island, bearing east, distant six leagues.

On the 11th, we made Fair Foreland, or Vogel
Hook, the northern extremity of Charles1 Island
and on the 13th, we reached the southern extre-
mity of the westernmost cape, forming Cross-bay in
Spitzbergen, at a short distance from which, we
were made fast to a large iceberg.

Spitzbergen is a general appellation given to a
vast assemblage of frozen islands, lying between
South Cape, in 76° 30', and Verlegan Hook, in
80° 7' north latitude. Its greatest breadth is from
the westernmost part of Mauritius, or Amsterdam
Island, called Hackluyt's Headland, to the ex-
treme east point of North-Eastland, comprising
from 9° to nearly 24° east longitude.

The inhospitable nature of this frozen climate
has prevented Spitzbergen from being properly ex-
plored. The best charts that have been published
are extremely defective, and its larger divisions are
but imperfectly defined. It could nowise interest
the reader to peruse a dry catalogue of headlands or

d3

54 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

straits ; and a few general observations may suf-
fice to exhaust all that is interesting in its appear-
ance.

The general aspect of this gloomy and sterile
country, affords a scene truly picturesque and
sombre. The shores are rugged, bold and terrific,
being in many places formed by lofty, black, inac-
cessible rocks, some of which taper to exceedingly
high points, and are altogether bare, and almost
destitute of vegetation. The entire face of the
country exhibits a wild, dreary landscape, of amaz-
ingly high * sharp-pointed mountains, some of
which rear their summits above the clouds, and are
capped with strata of snow, probably coeval with the
creation of the world.

" So Zembla's rocks (the beauteous work of frost,)
Rise white in air, and glitter o'er the coast :
Pale suns, unfelt, at distance roll away,
And on th' impassive ice the lightnings play ;
Eternal snows, the growing mass supply,
Till the bright mountains prop th' incumbent sky;
As Atlas fix'd each hoary pile appears,
The gather'd winter of a thousand years."

• The altitude of one near the Black Point, south end, was
found, by the megameter, to be 1503 yards. Phipps' Voyages,
p. 87.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 55

The mountains of Spitzbergen have been observ-
ed, by voyagers, to decline in altitude towards the
east ; neither are the eastern mountains so black,
steep, or naked, as those more to the west. This
curious phenomenon is considered by some natura-
lists as a general law of nature. The mountains
here are totally composed of one entire and single
mass of granite. The only fissures discovered in
their vast extent, are formed by the intensity of the
frost rending them assunder. They burst with a
noise like thunder, and often huge fragments are
torn from the summits, and rolled with great im-
petuosity to the base.

The glaciers are the most astonishing of ail
the natural phenomena of this counti y. I

only convey a faint representation of their iize
and magnificence, to say, that they far surpassed
those of Switzerland. Travellers who have been
in both countries, declare there is no comparison
between them. Perhaps the most proper method
to form a just conception of their magnitude, is
by considering the size of the icebergs, which, as
previously stated, are fragments of them. One of
these masses, according to Phipps, has been found
grounded in twenty-four fathoms water, while
it towered above the surface to the height of
fifty feet. Almost every valley can boast of

p4

56 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

its glacier, some of which vie with the moun-
tains in height. They are occasionally hollow,
and immense cascades of water are precipitated
from them.

The magnificence of this scene it is impossible
to describe. The gloomy silence of the surround-
ing country, the hoarse noise of the water dashing
from an immense height, and the magnificent ef-
fect produced by the reflection of the solar rays,
form a tout ensemble which can only be faintly con-
ceived.

Though the mountains of Spitzbergen consist
generally of rocks of primary formation, it is not
altogether destitute of those of a later origin.
Captain Phipps discovered several species of mar-
ble, which dissolved readily in muriatic acid.
On the east side of the country, potters' clay
and gypsum have been found, and different
specimens of talc, mica, and lapis olearis, are to
be met with. Phipps did not perceive any me-
tallic ores in this country, nor, as far as I know,
have other voyagers discovered any. The inte-
rior of the country, however, has been very little,
if at all, explored, and it would therefore be wrong
to conclude against their existence from this cir-
cumstance, more especially as they are said to be
found in Greenland.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 57

Solid as the rocks of this barren country are,
their disintegration has gone on to a considerable
extent. The combined effects of cataracts, formed
of melted snow, of frosts, and tempests, are at once
perceived in the quantity of grit, or coarse sand,
worn down from the mountains. This sterile sub-
stance, (the only thing among the rocks resem-
bling soil,) is somewhat fertilized by the putrifled
lichens, and dung of wild birds.

No fountains, or springs of fresh water, are to be
found here ; frost arrests the watery fluid in its
course, and prevents it from ascending to the sur-
face. The cascades falling from the glaciers, are
solely formed of melted snow, and with this only
the navigators can be supplied.

This inhospitable climate is not entirely desti-
tute of vegetation ; some plants are found, which
brave the rigour of perpetual frost, and convey
some faint representation of a more southern
country. They are generally short, crabbed, and
have a wretched appearance. The Salix herbacea,
(dwarf willow,) the most vigorous of them all,
scarcely rises two inches from the ground. Among
the few herbs, the Cochlearia, (scurvy grass,) de-
serves the first rank, as being the providential re-
source of distempered seamen. Here are also found
several species of Lichen, (liverwort,) Satcifraga,

d5

58 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

Ranunculus, Bryum, and a few others, of little or
no use in the medical world.

On the west side of Spitzbergen there are some
safe harbours and roads for ships. The sea near
the shore is, for the most part, shallow, and the
bottom rocky ; but it often suddenly deepens to
some hundred fathoms, where the lead sinks in soft
mud, and sometimes mixed with shells. In Smee-
renberg, which has a sandy bottom, vessels may
ride in thirteen fathoms water not far from the
shore, where they are sheltered from all winds.

The tide, from the number of islands through
which it passes, flows very irregularly, in some
places only three and four feet.

Mr. Marten has affirmed, that the sun here,
at midnight, appears with all the faintness of the
moon ; but his assertion has not been corrobora-
ted by the experience of subsequent voyagers.
During my stay in this country, in 1806 and
1807, distinction between day and night was al-
most completely lost. Any perceptible difference
between the splendour and radiance of the mid-day
and mid-night sun, in clear weather, (if these ex-
pressions may be used,) arose only from a different
degree of altitude. Some of our most experienced
Greenland sailors, when called upon deck, have fre-
quently asked me whether it was day or night ;

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 59

and I have often seen them obliged, even in clear
sun-shine, to consult the quadrant on this head. I
may add, that Captain Phipps has also contradicted
Mr. Marten in the most positive manner.

The temperature here is extremly fluctuating.
Sometimes the heat is so great as to melt the pitch
on the decks and cordage of the vessels, and in a
few minutes after, succeed high winds, snow, and
frost. The sky, even in calm and serene weather,
is covered with dense white clouds, the repositories
of the snow so often falling.

The degree of heat experienced in these nor-
thern latitudes being so much greater than is ex-
perienced in the same latitudes in the southern
hemisphere, is supposed to proceed from the greater
quantity of land in the north reflecting the rays
of the sun, which in the south are absorbed bv the
ocean. Whatever hypothesis may be adduced to
account for the greater temperature of the north,
the fact itself is indisputable. Terra del Fuego,
situated only in fifty-five degrees south latitude, is
extremely cold ; and Captain Cook could not pene-
trate farther than the seventy-first degree of lati-
tude, a distance far short of what the Greenland
ships are every year in the habit of sailing towards
the other Pole.

d6

60 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

Thunder and lightning are unknown at Spitz-
bergen, or at least are extremely rare. Forster
supposes that the electric exhalations in a coun-
try so much covered with snow must be very few,
and these so much consumed by the frequency of
the Aurora Borealis, that theare is never collected
at one time a quantity of fluid sufficient to produce
thunder and lightning. That luminous appear-
ance, so often observed during a storm in this coun-
try, he alleges to be the effect of volcanic eruptions ;
though this, I confess, seems to me extremely
problematical. Vid. Forster's Hist Voyages, p.
486.

There is a great diversity among the accounts
given by different travellers, of the forms assumed
by the new fallen snow in this country. During
hard frost, I always observed that the flakes closely
resembled an asterisk with six points. As the
temperature varied, their appearance was changed,
which may, perhaps, serve to explain the differences
alluded to.

The one summer day of Spitzbergen continues
from about the middle of May to the middle of Oc-
tober, when the sun bids a long adieu to this north-
ern region. The horrors of winter are discovered,
not alleviated, by the splendour of the Aurora Bo~
realis, and the pale lustre of the moon.

TOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 61

Here, says the energetic Thomson, —

" Here winter holds his unrejoicing court ;
And through his airy hall the loud misrule
Of driving tempest is for ever heard ;
Here the grim tyrant meditates his wrath,
Here arms his winds with all subduing frost ;
Moulds his fierce hail, and treasures up his snows,
With which he now oppresses half the globe."

Spitzbergen has no settled inhabitants. It is,
however, resorted to by parties of Russians, who, in
turn, continue there throughout the year for the
purpose of hunting, which they practise in all wea-
thers. These hardy adventurers have erected huts
adjacent to several of the harbours and bays, and
are well provided with fuel, from the immense quan-
tities of drifted wood that is every where to be found
in the different creeks. Archangel supplies them
with dried fish, rye-meal, and an abundant supply
of whey, similar to, if not made in the same man-
ner, as the Shetland beverage. This last consti-
tutes their chief drink, and is likewise used in bak-
ing their bread. Their beds are principally com-
posed of skins of the animals which they kill, and
of these they also make garments, which they wear
with the fur side next their bodies. The walrusses
and seals afford them a plentiful store of their
favourite delicacy, train-oil, and the bears, deers,

62 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGENT.

and foxes, fall frequent victims to the dexterity of
these excellent marksmen. They are at liberty to
return to their native country towards the latter end
of September, if not relieved by a fresh party be-
fore that time. Some of these Arctic hunters came
on board our ship, and when set down to meat,
they preferred a mess of biscuit and whale oil to all
the dainties placed before them. Of this coarse re-
past they ate with a sufficiently healthful appetite,
and in their own language pronounced it good.
They had the complexion of Siberians, and were
dressed in bear and deer skins. They had an ath-
letic and vigorous appearance, though somewhat
stiffened and cramped by the extreme cold to which
they are exposed. During the time they were on
board, and particularly while at meat, they behaved
with a decorum and gentleness which could hardly
be expected from their grotesque appearance : and
the neatness of their fowling-pieces, boat-tackling,
&c manifested a taste and ingenuity of which the
inhabitants of a more refined country need not be
ashamed.

The zoology is the only remaining subject of
importance in the description of this country to be
here considered. After giving an account of the
bear, deer, and fox, I shall notice the seal and

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 63

walrus, and conclude with describing a few of the
birds. Afterwards I shall give a short history of
its discovery ; and then pursue the account of our
voyage.

The Ursus tnaritimus, or Polar bear, may with
great propriety be termed the sovereign of the land
animals of Spitzbergen, or even of the Arctic circle.
Unlike the lion of Africa, his dominion is not con-
fined solely to the land ; for, by means of the ice, he
extends his ravages far from any continent, and dis-
putes the supremacy of the ocean with the walrus
himself, even in his own element! Here, says the
poet just quoted,

-" The shapeless bear,

With dangling ice all horrid, stalks forlorn ;
Slow pac'd, and sourer as the storms increase,
He makes his bed beneath the inclement drift,
And, with stern patience, scorning weak complaint,
Hardens his heart against assailing want."

The Polar bear is the largest of the species, and
has frequently been found of an immense size.
Barentz killed one thirteen feet in length, and it
is asserted they have been found of a much larger
size, but not on equally good authority. The one
which Captain Phipps describes was only seven
feet one inch long, and the largest we got on
board did not exceed seven feet six inches ; though

64 VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN.

we killed one apparently much larger, but a gale
coming on, we were obliged to bear away, and leave
it on the ice.

The hair of this species is very long, woolly,
and of a yellowish white colour. Its teeth lock
into each other like those of a rat-trap, and are so
remarkably strong and sharp, that it has been
known to shiver lances made of steel. Its head
is small, and a good deal elongated; nose black,
and without hair ; ears short, erect, and rounded ;
neck slender. Its limbs are of a vast thickness,
and each foot is armed with five exceedingly strong
black claws. The carcass of the one mentioned by
Captain Phipps, though without the skin, head,
and entrails, weighed 610 lbs. The flesh is white,
and though of a coarse texture, is prized by some
as equally delicious with mutton, especially when
boiled ; for when roasted it is of an oily taste.
The liver, it would seem, is of a poisonous nature,
as some Dutch sailors who ate part of one were
taken so extremely ill, that, after recovering, the
skin all over their bodies fell off in scales.

The fat makes good train oil, and that which is
procured from the feet is sometimes used in medi-
cine, and is commonly known by the name of bear's
grease. In some upwards of a hundred pounds ef

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 65

fat has been got ; and Captain Fox is said to have
killed one which yielded forty-eight gallons of oil.
Forster's Hist. Voy. p. 363.

The skins are imported into Britain, chiefly for
covering coach-boxes. In Greenland the inhabi-
tants use the flesh and fat as food ; and of the skins
they make seats, boots, shoes, and gloves ; the ten-
dinous parts they split into fibres for the purpose
of sewincr.*

The food of the Polar bears consists chiefly of
fish, of seals which they seize when sleeping, and
the carcasses of whales, walrusses, &c. so often
found floating in the northern seas. On land
they prey on the rein-deers, young birds, and
eggs ; and sometimes lay hold of the Arctic fox,
notwithstanding all his stratagems in order to
escape. Some naturalists have maintained that the
Polar bear chiefly delighted in human flesh ;
this, however, is expressly contradicted by Fa-
bricius, who, from his long residence in Green-
land, must be allowed to be unexceptionable
authority. It will not prey on man, says he, un-
less pressed by hunger, and it deserves to be
mentioned, that the Greenlanders feign themselves
dead when they wish to avoid the pursuit. It

• Fab. Faun. Groenland. edit. ] 780, p. 24-,

66 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

cannot, however, be denied, that, when attacked,
or hungry, they are extremely dangerous to man.
Many well authenticated instances are to be met
with of the courage with which they have attack-
ed the crews of boats, or even of ships. The fol-
lowing is one of the many : " A few years since,
the crew of a boat belonging to a ship in the
whale fishery, shot at a bear at a short distance,
and wounded it. The animal immediately set up
the most dreadful yells, and ran along the ice
towards the boat. Before it reached it, a second
shot was fired, and hit it. This served to in-
crease its fury. It presently swam to the boat;
and in attempting to get on board, reached its
fore foot upon the gunwale ; but one of the crew
having a hatchet, cut it off. The animal still
however, continued to swim after them, till they
arrived at the ship, and several shots were fired at
it, which also took effect ; but on reaching the ship
it immediately ascended the deck ; and the crew
having fled into the shrouds, it was pursuing them
thither, when a shot from one of them laid it dead
upon the deck." Vid. Bewick's Hist. Quadrup.
6th edit. p. 296.

The walrus is the most dangerous enemy the
bear has to contend with, and his immense tusks

VOYAGE TO SPITZBEItGEN. 67

often give him a decided superiority. What the
bear, however, wants in strength, he supplies by
cunning, as he takes huge fragments of ice in his
paws, and, dashing them against the head of the
walrus, attacks and kills him after he is stunned
by these blows. The one and the other often fall
in this desperate fray.*

According to Fabricius, their time of parturi-
tion is in the winter, and their number of young
at a birth seldom exceeds two. At this period, if
on land, they make large dens in the snow ; but
thev frequently bring forth in some of those vast
caverns, so often found in the huge masses of pack-
ed ice. Their attachment to their offspring is re-
markably great. When mortally wounded, they
will take their little cubs under their paws, em-
brace, and bemoan them with their latest breath.

Polar bears are equally at home by land and
by sea, where they swim with great strength and
agility ; they also dive, but cannot remain long
under water. As if impatient of rest, they are fre-
quently seen passing from one island of ice to an-
other, and are often met with at a great distance
from land. They are frequently drifted into Ice-
land and Norway, where, from the extreme hunger

* Fabr. loc. cit.

68 VOYAGE TO SriTZBERGEN.

they suffer in their passage thither, they make
dreadful ravages among the cattle, but are soon dis-
patched by the inhabitants, who rise in a body as
soon as they learn that one of them has approached
their shores. The government of Iceland encou-
rages the destruction of these animals, by paying
a premium of ten dollars for every bear that is kill-
ed.

That these animals are possessed of consider-
able sagacity is evident from the account we
have given of their combats with the walrus, and
may be farther elucidated by the following fact :—
The Captain wounded one in the side, and im-
mediately the animal, as if conscious of the styptic
nature of snow, covered the wound with it, and
made off. We did not perceive any blood in its
tract.

The sight of the bear is rather defective, but its
senses of smelling and hearing are very acute, and
compensate for any feebleness in the other.

Some writers have affirmed that Polar bears lie
in a state of torpor through the long winter night,
and appear only with the return of the sun ; but
this is denied by Fabricius, who says, they are equal-
ly on the hunt summer and winter.*

" Tarn brumali, quam ucstivo tempore occurrit extra praedans.
Fab. loc. eit.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBEItGEN. 69

The Cervus tarandus, or rein-deer, comes next
in order. This useful and beautiful animal is
found in every part of Spitzbergen. It has long,
slender, branched horns, bending forwards, and
palmated at the top, and broad palmated brow
antlers.

Its body is thick, and rather square ; tail short ;
legs not so long as those of a stag ; hoofs large,
concave, and deeply cloven ; hair very thick, and
under the neck long and pendent : before the first
coat is shed it is of a dark cinereous colour, but af-
ter that period it changes to white, except a large
space round each eye, which is always black.*
Some rein-deer are four feet six inches high ; and
a pair of their horns has been found which were
three feet nine inches long, two feet six inches
from tip to tip, and weighed nine pounds and three
quarters. The horns of the females are less than
those of the male, and not altogether of the same
form. She has six teats, four of which only give
milk.

The principal food of the rein-deer is the lichen
(or liverwort) which it frequently raises from below
great depths of snow by means of its feet and
antlers. The female goes about eight months with

* Hieme eiiam barbam albam, ut hircus habet. Fab. de Cerv.
Tarand.

6

70 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

young, and seldom brings forth more than one at a
time. Her attachment to her offspring is remark-
ably strong.

The rein-deer species do not bound, but run
with an even pace, and with considerable rapidi-
ty ; in running, they make a clattering noise with
their hoofs. They swim very well, crossing in
their way narrow arms of- the sea. Their senses
of smelling and hearing are extremely acute ; and
it has been observed, that they are more cautious
when in flocks, than when living in a solitary man-
ner.

The camel is not more useful to the Arabians,
than the rein-deer to the Laplanders, and nor-
thern Asiatics ; it, in fact, constitutes their whole
riches ; and on this valuable animal they may be
said entirely to depend. An attention to rearing
and preserving them, forms the sole business of their
lives, and to that alone their agricultural economy
is confined.

" The rein-deer forms their riches. These, their tents,
Their robes, their beds, and all their homely wealth,
Supply their wholesome fare, and cheerful cups :
Obsequious at their call, the docile tribe
Yield to the sled their necks, and whirl them swift
O'er hill and dale, heap'd into one expanse
Of marbled snow, as far as eye can sweep,
With a blue crust of ice unbounded glaz'd."

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 71

The Canis lagopus, or Arctic fox, is found in
all parts of Spitzbergen. Its nose is sharp and
black; eyes black, with yellow iris; ears short,
erect, round, and almost hidden in the fur ; legs
short, with the toes furred like those of a hare ;
tail long and bushy. The male is generally lar-
ger than the female ; but neither reach the size
of the common British fox. In summer, its hair
is of a greyish colour, which in winter changes
to white, when it also becomes longer, softer, and
a good deal thicker than it is in the former pe-
riod.

The Arctic fox is monogamous, and brings forth
twice a year, in the months of March and June.
It has several pups at a time.

This species feeds chiefly on young water fowl
and eggs, and when very hungry, will eat any kind
of shell or other fish. In the northern parts of Asia,
and in Lapland, they prey on the leming, or Lap-
land marmont, (Mus Alpinus*) which are often
seen there in surprising numbers.

They generally burrow in the ground, but in
Spitzbergen and Greenland, where the intensity
of the frost renders this impracticable, they lie in
caverns, and in the cliffs of rocks, two or three
together. They are so remarkably hardy, that the
most rigorous severity of winter in these regions,

72 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

never stops their search of prey. They are ex-
cellent swimmers, and are often seen passing from
one island to another, especially at the time when
bird-nests are to be found. Some zoologists have
affirmed, that they are harmless, simple, and easi-
ly taken ; but Fabricius assures us that they pos-
sess all the wildness and cunning of the vtdpes, or
fox of these kingdoms. Fabricius says, the Arc-
tic fox has three different kinds of voices*. Its
smell is not so fetid as that of the common fox.
Its flesh is not only eaten by the Greenlanders, but
some voyagers have esteemed it as being good food.
Vid. Phipps, p. 184.

Their skins are of little value in traffic, espe-
cially the white furred ones, as the fur easily comes
off.

It was formerly supposed that there were two
species of Arctic foxes, but this is denied by Fabri-
cius on very satisfactory grounds.

These three quadrupeds constitute the entire
of that great division of animals which belong to
Spitzbergen. In warmer climes, the species are
more numerous ; but the individual animals do
not there seem to possess more vigour or anima-

* Vocem hahct triplicem : esi/rienlis e.julando : colrc volenti cla-
mando, perklitanlis murmurando.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 73

tion than these are imbued with. The climate
of Spitzbergen being an extreme of cold, the ani-
mals of a more genial country cannot exist there.
These species are indigenous to the regions of
frost ; cold is their element, and in it alone they
thrive.

The amphibious animals come next in order ;
and as the accounts of them, given by different
voyagers and naturalists are extremely confused, I
have been more circumstantial than would other-
wise have been necessary.

The Phocce* are the most numerous class of
animals which frequent Spitzbergen, where they
are found in vast numbers. Though the specific
characters of each particular tribe are distinctly
marked, their general resemblance is, upon the
whole,* so very striking, that the following obser-
vations may be applied to them all indiscrimi-
nately. In the scale of nature, the Phocae hold
an intermediate station between amphibia and
perfect fish ; but nearer the latter than the for-
mer. The organization of other amphibious ani-
mals, such as the beaver, castor, otter, &c. fits
them better for living on the land than the water.
In this genus the contrary takes place. The arms

* Under this general appellation, I include the seal, walrus or
morse, dugon, &c.

E

74 VOYAGE TO SriTZBEKGEN.

and legs of the Phocae, (if we may employ these
terms,) are wholly enveloped in the flesh of the
animal, the hands and feet being alone protruded ;
these too are webbed, and are instruments evidently
more calculated for swimming than moving on
land.

This unaptness of organization is strongly dis-
played in the painful motion of the animal, which,
from the shortness of its legs, has to rest at every
step on its belly, until it prepares for a new advance.
Its agility, considering these defects, is indeed as-
tonishing, and is certainly the effect of great exer-
tion.

The eloquent and ingenious Buffon was of
opinion that the Phocae approached to fish by a
still more decisive criterion. " They are the only
animals," says he, " which have thejbramen ovale
open, and which can therefore live without respiring,
and to whom water is as proper and suitable an
element as air." Theoretic views appear to have
here led this excellent writer into an error, as it is
now well known that the Phocag cannot remain long
in the water without coming to the surface to
breathe.

The Phoca vitulina, by the English termedseal,
and by the French, phoque, is the most common
species of those animals in the north, and is dis-

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 75

persed with some variety throughout the rest of
the ocean. Its head is large and flat ; the teeth
strong, and so sharp that I have seen it bite in
two the handspikes with which the men were at-
tempting to kill it ; the tongue is forked ; and it
is well furnished with whiskers around the mouth ;
has almost no external appearance of ears, but
merely an aperture to convey the sound to the
sensorium; the eyes are small, and have a haggard
appearance; the neck thickens as it approaches
the shoulder, the thickest part of the animal ;
from whence the body gradually tapers in a cy-
lindrical form, to the extremity, where the hind
legs are placed, between which is a very short
tail ; the fore paws consist of five fingers, joined
together by a membrane, and furnished with very
strong cylindrical nails ; the hind paws are formed
in the same way, except that the fingers are longer
than in the fore paws, and that the shortest of them
are in the middle, and the longest on the outside of
the paw. The length of an ordinary full grown seal
is about seven or eight feet ; and its thickness at
the shoulder four or five. It is covered with short
coarse thick hair, which varies in its colour with the
different ages of the animal.

The flesh of the seal is of a reddish colour, and

is, by the Greenlanders, accounted excellent food.

e 2

76 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

Our sailors esteemed the entrails of a young one
which they dressed, as equal to those of a hog. A
seal will yield about twelve or fourteen gallons of
good oil ; their skins are very valuable, serving for
covers to trunks, vests, &c. and are now used to a
vcvy considerable extent in the manufactureof shoes.
The Greenlanders, who depend almost entirely for
subsistence on this animal, make their boots, and
other articles of dress, as well as the inside of their
huts, of its skim

The seal is a gregarious and polygamous ani-
mal. It is never met with at a great distance
from land, but frequents the bays and seas adja-
cent to the shore. It feeds promiscuously on most
sorts of small fish, but chiefly on the spawn of the
salmon.

Fabricius differs from both BufFon and Pennant
in asserting, that the seal brings forth but one at a
time, while they maintain that it brings forth two.*
At the time of parturition, it eomes on shore, and
suckles its young there for about six weeks before it
takes them to the water, where it instructs them in
swimming. Though naturally timid, the female
defends her young with great boldness and spirit ;
on other occasions they generally place their safety

* Perhaps Pliny has hit the truth, « Parit nunquam geminis
pteres." Nat. Hist. lib. 9. § 13.

VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN. 77

in flight ; but I have sometimes seen them throw
back stones and pieces of ice on the sailors who pur-
sued them.

Seals delight to lie upon the ice, or on the shore,
exposed to the sun*; they there sleep very pro-
foundly, and' fall an easy prey to the sailors, who
dispatch them by a blow on the nose.

Their voice has been not unaptly compared by
Buffbn to the barking of a hoarse dog ; when at-
tacked, they make a more doleful kind of noise.

Pliny expressly states this animal to be of a do-
cile and tractable nature, and in this he is sup-
ported by the more enlarged experience of mo-
dern times. The seal described by Dr. Parsons -f*
was taught to come out of his tub, and return to
the water at the command of its keeper, to stretch
out its neck to kiss him, and to perform several
other motions.

Seals have a very delicate sense of hearing, and
are very much delighted with music. The Cap-
tain's son, who was a good performer on the violin,
never failed to have a numerous auditory, when •we
were in the seas frequented by those animals ; and
I have seen them follow the ship for miles when any
person was playing on deck. This fact was observed

* Sternunt se somno diversw in lilt&re Phocce. Georg. lib. 4.
-fr Pennant's Quadrupeds, vol. ii. p. 272.

E 3

78 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

by the ancient poets*, and is thus alluded to by
Sir Walter Scott, in one of his poems :

«« Rude Heiskar's seals, through surges dark,
Will long pursue the minstrel's bark."

These animals, in swimming, constantly keep
the head, and often the whole body, as far as the
shoulder, above the surface of the water. The first I
saw was at a considerable distance, and might easily
have been mistaken for a man, though it was much
liker a dog.

Buft'on has already remarked, that this animal
had given a foundation to the poetic fiction of the
Nereids in antiquity ; and perhaps we may add, to
the no less fictitious mermaids of modern times.

The Arctic walrus, or Trichechus rosmarus of
Linnaeus, the other great variety of the Phocse, fre-
quents the bays and shores of Spitzbergen in vast
numbers, though they are not now found in such
quantities as when the Europeans first navigated
these seas. The walrus is considerably larger than
the seal, being sometimes found eighteen feet long,
and twelve round, where thickest+. Their charac-

* Apol. Rliod. lib. 1. Vol. Flac. lib. 5: lin. 440. Gaudebant
armine Phocae.

f The largest we caught was only thirteen feet long and seven
rouud.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 79

teristic difference, however, consists in the walrus
having two very large tusks, or horns, like the ele-
phant's, projecting from his upper jaw. These are
sometimes found of an extraordinary size, from two
to three feet in length, and weighing twenty pounds.
The tusks of the Spitzbergen walrus seldom attain
this size, because there the animal is generally kill-
ed before attaining its full growth. It is only on
the northern coast of Asiatic Russia, or where they
are not molested by hunters, that such tusks are
found.

With the exception of the tusks, the form of
the walrus does not differ materially from that of
the seal. Head round, with a short nose; mouth
small, with strong bristles ; small red eyes ; short
neck ; colour variable ; rest of the body similar to
the seal ; but its toes, especially in the hind feet,
are much stronger.

The walrus is monogamous but in other re-
spects its habits are nearly the same with those of
the seal. It brings forth its young in the same
manner, preys on the same kinds of fish, and, like
the seal, ascends the ice, (more rarely the land,) to
bask in the sun.

The walrus is a very valuable animal, yielding
frequently half a tun of oil, equally valuable with

that of the whale. The tusks are said to be more

E 4

80 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN,

valuable than those of the elephant, as being more
compact and hard, and consequently taking a finer
polish : the skin, which is nearly an inch thick, is
used to cover the masts or yards of ships, where
they cross each other, to prevent their being injur-
ed by the friction. It was formerly cut into ropes ;
and Buffon mentions its being used at Paris in the
springs of carriages.

The walrus becomes very furious when attack-
ed, and the whole herd join to revenge any injury
an individual may have received. If wounded in
the water, they will sometimes surround the boat,
and attempt to sink her, by striking their tusks
against her sides and bottom. Their combats
with the bear, their most dangerous enemy among
the lower animals, have been already described.*

The water and air round Spitzbergen abound
more with inhabitants than the land ; the fish are
perhaps not more numerous than the birds, which
are there seen in thousands : of these I shall only
describe a few of the most curious species.

The Procellaria glacialis or Mallemukke of the
Dutch, is found in very great abundance in the

* This account is comformable to that given by the greatest
number of writers, but Fabricius seems to be of a different opi.
nion as to the ferocity of the walrus. " Improviso vulneratus itu
feslat ; venators autcm prccviso fugit" Faun. Groenl. p. 5.

VOYAGE TO SPITZJBERGEN. 81

seas of Spitzbergen, especially in the whale-fishing
season. — Bill yellow and strong; neck, tail, and
under part of the body, white ; back, and coverts
of the wings, ash ; primaries dusky ; legs straw-
colour.

The bird is carnivorous, and feeds on the blub?-
ber of cetaceous fish, and on other dead carcasses
floating in the sea. They are often seen follow-
ing whales, especially wounded ones, on whom
they pounce at every time of their rising to
breathe, and tear the blubber from their back.
As soon as the carcass of a whale is sent adrift
after the blubber is taken off', it is covered over
with these voracious birds, who then make a loud
worrying noise. When a fish is alongside the
ship, they surround it in vast numbers, and are
so eager of their prey, that they suffer themselves
to be caught with the hand, and may be knocked
down easily by those on the whale, or in the
boats.

Though extremely fetid, the Greenlanders ac-
count the flesh of the Mallemukke good food, and
eat it either raw or dressed. The fat they burn
in lamps.

When caught, the Mallemukke not only, at-
tacks with its bill, but spurts the blubber out of
its mouth and nostrils in the face of its captor,

e 5,

C2 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

Their flight is a kind of race along the surface of
the water. They build their nests on rugged
precipices, and at other times seldom come to
land.

Larus parasiticus, or Artie Gull. Bill dusky,
and much curved at the end ; crown black ; back,
wings, and tail, dusky ; the rest white. The two
middle feathers of the tail are three or four inches
longer than the rest. The female is altogether
brown. Length about fourteen inches.

The Artie gull lives almost solely on the fish
taken by other birds ; to obtain which, it follows
and harasses them till they either drop their prey,
or vomit with fear ; it then devours the residue be-
fore it falls into the sea. * The Artie gull is fre-
quently taken sleeping on the water.

Anas Tnollissima, or Eider Duck, is sometimes
found on the coast of Spitzbergen in vast numbers,
especially in winter. Bill black, and somewhat
elevated; from the forehead, which is a glossy
black, extends a dark purple stripe beyond each
eye : neck, body, and tail, a mixture of black and
white ; legs green. The body of the female is
mostly of an iron colour, striped with black ; tail
of an ash hue.

* Faun. Grocnl. p. 101.

VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN. 83

This species is about twice the size of the com-
mon domesticated duck, and its body is covered
over with a thick coat of valuable down.

Colymbus glacialis, or Great Northern Diver.

Head and neck black ; throat and hind part of
the neck marked with a semilunar spot of white,
and with white streaks, varied with white spots ;
upper part of the body and wings black, varied
with white spots ; tail duskish ; legs black. Some
of them are found three feet five inches long, and
weigh sixteen lbs.

It makes its nest in the most remote parts of
the North, in the islets of fresh water lakes. Each
pair possesses a lake. Its sight is keen, flies well,
and, darting obliquely, drops safely into its nest.
When pursued, it saves itself by diving ; but when
it has young ones, it does not make its escape, but
strives to beat off its enemy with its bill.

Emberiza nivalis, or Snow Bunting, is found
in vast numbers at Spitzbergen, and as it is grami-
nivorous, its frequenting a country so ill provided
with vegetables, has justly been regarded as a very
surprising phenomenon. It is not a large bird,
and its colour varies with the season of the year.

As it does not seem necessarv to notice the few
insects which belong to Spitzbergen, some short
account of its discovery is all that now remains for
us to treat of regarding it.

84 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

The progress of discovery towards the North
has been extremely slow. The ancients possess-
ed no accurate knowledge of the countries north
tif the Rhine, though they made voyages a con-
siderable way beyond that barrier. The accounts
of the Hyperborei, as given by Pomponius Mela
and Pliny, two geographical writers of great repu-
tation, are perfectly fabulous, and afford an in-
controvertible proof of the total ignorance they
were in respecting the country they pretended to
describe. During the long period of the decline
and fall of the Roman empire, the desire of dis-
covering foreign countries, like other liberal pur-
suits, had totally subsided. In the fifteenth cen-
tury, however, men awakened from their lethargy,
and the voyages of Columbus and Vasco de Gama
constitute one of the most important epochs in
the history of the human race. The spirit of ad-
venture was aroused, and voyagers boldly ven-
tured into hitherto unexplored seas. The English
and Dutch navigators of the sixteenth century, en-
vying the glory and wealth acquired by the Portu-
guese in their voyages to India by the Cape of
Good Hope, were seized with the same spirit of
adventure, and were fired with the hopes of open-
ing a new route to those regions, by sailing round
the north of Europe and Asia. Though these ex-

VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN. 85

pectations were disappointed, yet to this stimulus
the great discoveries made in the North are to be
principally ascribed.

The honour of the discovery of Spitzbergen has
been long contested between the English and the
Dutch. The former claim it from Sir Hugh Wil-
loughby's pretended view of it in 1553 ; but the
land seen by him being in latitude 12°, could not
be any part of Spitzbergen, which extends no far-
ther south than 76° 30'. Some writers have sup-
posed, that if what Sir Hugh saw was not a fog
bank, it must have been either the island of Jan
Mayen, or some part of Greenland ; while others
allege, that it was either Nova Zembla, or the
island of Kolgow. The English historians have
likewise honoured Stephen Burrows with the title
of second discoverer of this country in 155G,
though he never advanced farther in these seas
than the latitude of 70° 4?/. The priority of this
discovery indubitably belongs to the Dutch, who,
under the pilotage of William Barentz, in 1596',
not only discovered, but landed on some of the
northernmost islands (in lat. 80°) by them named
Spitzbergen, or. Sharp Mountains.

Barentz, as already observed, in the same voyage
discovered Cherry Island, which was by him called
Bear Island ; but changed its appellation in 1603,

6

86 VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN.

when it was discovered by a ship belonging to Sir
Francis Cherry of London.

The English began the whale fishery at Spitz-
bergen immediately after its discovery by Barentz.
The nation soon became sensible of the advantages
to be derived from this trade, and Parliament gave
premiums to the different adventurers. They had
a formidable rival to contend with in the Dutch,
who long were successful competitors with the Eng-
lish in this traffic*.

In Spitzbergen as well as in Jan Mayen, sailors
have been frequently left till winter, from the same
motives, and have generally met with the same
fate ; some, however, have been more fortunate, and
have braved all the rigours of this inhospitable cli-
mate. In 1630, eight Englishmen were left here
by accident, and, overcoming all the difficulties
they were exposed to, by their ingenuity, were next
summer found in good health. In 1743, four
Russians were left here, and were not relieved till
1749, when three of the number were found alive,
who had exhausted, as Pennant observes, all the
ingenious contrivances related of Robinson Crusoe,

It is now time to continue the account of there-

• The Dutch, in the space of forty-six years caught 32,900
whales, the oil and whalebone of which sold for about£15,800,00(K'
Malte Brun, torn. v. 298.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 87

mainder of our voyage, together with the whale-fish-
ing, the great object for which voyages are made to
this country.

Having made fast to an Iceberg on the ltith, as
before remarked, near the south-west promontory of
Cross Bay, we continued in that situation during
the 14th, making all the necessary preparations for
the fishing, and on the 15th we sailed about ten
leagues from the shore in a westerly direction, mak-
ing about one point towards the south. It blew
this day a brisk gale from the east, which was in-
tolerably cold ; the wind at that time passes over
large fields of ice, and in that climate, is compa-
ratively as noxious as it is in Britain. During a
fresh easterly breeze, I have found the cold in the
cabin so intense, that, notwithstanding we had a
good fire and warm clothing, I have been obliged
to put on furred gloves to enable me to hold a book.
We this day killed several seals, and might have
got many more, but they are not of much use un-
less the vessel ba fitted out for their fishing only.
This day we made fast to a large iceberg, and the
latitude, by observation, was nearly 79°.

16th, We were almost encompassed by ice, and
remained in the same situation as before.

17th, Remarkably warm. The men were forced
to, strip in warping the ship, sallying, &c. In

88 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

warping, the men move from side to side in the:
boats, to break the bay ice, and in sallying, they
run from the one side of the vessel to the other,,
according to the motion, and the command of the
person who takes the lead ; this facilitates the mo-
tion of the ship through the ice. The thermome-
ter this day stood at 41° in the cabin without'
fire. Being exposed to the sun on deck, it got
up to 66°, where it remained stationary. On
being hung in. the shade,, it fell to the freezing
point.

18th, Continued forcing our way slowly through-
bay ice ; almost no wind. In sultry days, and, in*
deed, in all weathers, navigators are much harass-
ed in those seas by the fogs ; they, however, chiefly:
occur towards the latter end of. summer. They
are excessively dense, and at a distance are frequent-
ly mistaken for land. In winter, when the cold,
is intense, a vapour called fog smoke frequently
arises from the chinks of the ice, which is so acrid,
as to excoriate the face and hands of those who
approach it. We this day observed a. fog bank, a
little to the north-east, which at first we mistook.
for Hackluyt's Headland, from which, however,
we were then at a considerable distance. Thft
edges of these fog banks are so weil defined, that

VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN. 89

the most experienced sailors often fall into such,
mistakes.

20th, Latitude by observation 79° 50'. Sea
clear of ice, with a smart easterly breeze. In this
parallel of latitude we ran 12° to the west in eigh-
teen hours. This will not appear surprising on
considering that a degree of longitude in this pa-
rallel is little more than ten miles.

21st, Fell in with a dead fish. This whale had
been killed for a considerable time, and was en-
tirely covered with Mallemukkes,, and other vo-
racious birds. At a distance it resembled a float-
ing mass of feathers, but on our approaching it, we
were almost stunned by the quarelling noise of these
Harpies. We brought it alongside and stripped
it of its remaining blubber.

22d, After having stripped off the blubber, we
sailed north-east ; the sea. was clear of ice,, and
the weather serene. A distant view of the ice-
bergs reflecting the rays of the sun, added an in-
expressible beauty and grandeur to the scene.
They had all the appearance of illuminated Gothic
castles, and realized the magnificence of fairy
scenes.

23d, Killed a large whale. This animal, the
largest with which men are as yet acquainted, is of
that genus of fish termed cetaceous. Some classi-

90 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

fiers of animals, because the cetaceous fish breathe
by lungs, and not gills, and because they suckle
their young, have, by a learned and laughable ab-
surdity, ranked them among quadrupeds. It is
needless, however, to say, that they want the distin-
guishing and decisive characteristics of quadrupeds;:
and hence, though they may correspond with them
in some respects, they should assuredly be held to
be of a different race.

The common whale, called by Linnaeus Balaz-
na mysticetuS) has, it is affirmed, been sometimes
found 160 feet long. In the seas of Spitzbergen
and Greenland, however, whales now seldom
reach 70 feet, being generally killed before they
arrive at full growth. Head of a- triangular
shape, and nearly one-third of the size of the fish ;
under-lip much broader than the upper. Have
no teeth, but merely laminae in the upper jaw,
similar to those found in the bill of a duck, but
more closely set together, and of a black colour.
Tongue, in ordinary sized whales, about IS or 20
feet long ; consists of a soft spongy fat, and fre-
quently yields five or six barrels of oil. That
article in commerce, commonly known by the
name of zvhalebone, is found adhering to the up-
per jaw, in thin parallel laminas, usually measur-
ing from 3 to 10 or 12 feet in length ; of these

• VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 91

there are generally 200 on each side, which are
fit for use. The breadth of the largest, at the
thick end, where they are attached to the jaw,
is about a foot. When the longest of these la-
minae measures six feet, the whale is called a pay-
able or size fish ; for every one of which that is
caught, the captain generally gets three guineas,
the surgeon one, the carpenter one, &c The
whalebone is covered with long hair like that of
a horse, which not only preserves the tongue
from being hurt, but prevents their food from
being returned when they eject the water from
their mouths. The throat is not more than three
or four inches wide ; eyes and ears small. In
the middle of the head are two orifices, commonly
called bloio holes, through which they eject water
to a great height. No dorsal fin ; a large one un-
der each eye. Body tapers gradually towards the
tail, which is often above twenty feet broad, semi-
lunar, and horizontal in respect to the body. Female
larger than the male ; her teats placed in the lower
part of the belly.

The colour of the whale varies with its age ;
the back of some being black, of others black and
white, and some are all white ; under jaw and belly
generally white, whatever may be their age. Some

92

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

old whales have a broad white strip over their back
down to the belly.

Their skin is smooth, lubricated, and about one
inch thick. I haxl a book bound with some of
the epidermis, or scarf-skin, which I brought
home, but it did not altogether answer the pur-
pose.

Their bodies, immediately under the skin, are
covered with a layer of fat, called blubber, from
12 to 1 S inches thick in large fish. This, in young
whales, resembles hog's lard ; but in old ones it is
of a reddish colour. A large whale will produce
12, 20, and sometimes 25 tuns of oil, which now
sells at from £30 to £40 per tun.

Mr. Scoresby, jun. in a description of the Balaena
mysticetus, published in the memoirs of the Wer-
nerian Society of Edinburgh, gives the following
table of the ordinary quantity of oil produced from
whales of different sizes of bones :

Bone in feet.
I . .

Oil in tuns.

Bone in feet.,
7 . .

Oil in tuns
. . . 7

2 . .

8 . .

. . . 9

... 34
... 4

0 . .

. . . 11

4 . .

11 . .

. . . 13

5 . .

... 4'

. . . 16

6 . .

12 . .

ucker," Mr.
Dunff, freque

. 20

" The
serves, "

blubber of a s
when very y<

Scoresby ob-
ntly contains

VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN. 93

little or no oil, but only a kind of milky fluid ; in
which case, when the animal is deprived of life,
the body sinks to the bottom, as also does the
blubber when separated from it ; while the body
and blubber of larger individuals always swim.
Though the preceding statement be exceedingly
near the truth, yet exceptions occur ; for I have
known a whale of 2| feet bone produce 10 tuns of
oil, and one of 12 feet bone estimated at only
9 tuns ; but such instances are much rarer than
to see one of 2| feet bone produce 4 or five tuns of
oil."

The Balcena rnysticetus, according to Marten
and other North Sea voyagers, feeds chiefly upon
a species of vermes, called Clio limacina, or Sea
May Fly,* which are found in surprising num-
bers throughout the Arctic seas. According to
Fabricius, the principal food of the whale consists
of two different species of sea insects ;f while Lin-
naeus maintains that they live chiefly on the Medu-
sa capillata, or sea blubber. This last substance,
commonly called by Greenlandmen whale's meat,
assembles frog-spawn, and is frequently seen float-
ing on the surface of the Northern seas.

Mr. Scoresby says, " that he has good reason to

* Phipps, p. 195.

f Cancer pedatns et oculatus. Faun. Groenl. p. 33.

94 VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN.

believe that the whale feeds chiefly, if not altoge-
ther, on the squillce or shrimp tribe ; for, on ex-
amining the stomach of one of large size, nothing
else was found in it ; they were about half an inch
long, semi-transparent, and of a pale red colour. —
I also found a great quantity in the mouth of
another, having been apparently vomited by it.
When the whale feeds, it swims with considerable
velocity under water, with its mouth wide open;
the water enters by the fore part, but is poured out
again at the sides, and the food is entangled and
sifted as it were by the whalebone, which does not
allow any thing to escape."

Their time of parturition is in April, and though
they are said to bring forth two young ones at a
time,* yet I never saw more than one along with
such as we killed. Fabricius says, that, for the
most part, they bring forth but one.-f- The female
is frequently taken when endeavouring to save her
young one, which is generally killed first by way of
stratagem. She then strives to take it away under
her fins ; but, in the midst of these efforts, being
overtaken by the boats, she falls a victim to her
maternal affection.

The female, during pregnancy, which is about

* Br. Zool. Edit. 1769, vol. iii. p. 37.
f Paun. Groenl. loc. cit.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 95

nine or ten months, is very fat ; and the cub, when
excluded, is black, and about ten feet long. It
continues at the breast for a year. To suckle her
young, the mother throws herself upon one side on
the surface of the water ; she is frequently seen car-
rying it on her back, and when she has occasion to
go to the bottom, takes it with her under one of
her fins.

Whalebone was formerly an article of great value
in commerce, and at one time sold for dCftOO per
ton. It is not now, however, worth a twentieth part
of that sum, and is not an object of any attention
to the whale fishers. We may remark, that,
by an old feudal law, the tail of all whales belong-
ed to the Queen,* as a perquisite to furnish her
Majesty's wardrobe with whalebone. A strong
proof of the ignorance that had at that time prevail-
ed respecting this animal.

The flesh of the whale is variously prepared by
the Greenlanders, and is used either when newly
catched, or when sub-putrid. The skin, tail, and
fins, they eat raw ; the blubber is used either as
food, or in lamps ; they dress the intestines like
those of the seal. The tendons serve them as
thread for nets. The bones serve as timber for

* Blackstone, vol. i. p. 223. Edit. 1783.

96 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

roofing their houses, and other domestic purposes ;
and fishing-rods of the best quality are made from
the whalebone.*

The common whale, notwithstanding its mag-
nitude, swims with surprising agility, and gene-
rally against the wind. The flat position of its
tail enables it to ascend suddenly to the surface of
the water to breathe, which it is frequently oblig-
ed to do. Whales are very harmless and timid ;
but, when attacked, frequently strike the boats a
dangerous blow with their tails, in which their
greatest strength lies. About midsummer, when
they begin to couple, they are very wild, and diffi-
cult to catch, unless harpooned during copulation,f
or when found sleeping on the water.

Their fidelity to each other is said to be very great.
Anderson tells us, that having struck one of two
whales, a male and female, that were in company,
the wounded fish made a long and terrible resistance;
it struck down a boat with three men in it, with a
single blow of the tail, by which all went to the
bottom : The other fish attended its companion,
and lent it every assistance, till, at last, the fish that

• * Compare Fab. de Bat Myst. with Arrian, Hist. Ind. § 29
and 30.

f Congreditur corpore erecto, capite supra aquam promlnente.

Faun. Groenl. loc. cit.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 97

was struck, sunk under the number of its wounds ;
while its faithful associate, disdaining to survive the
loss, stretched itself upon the dead fish, and shared
its fate.

The ancients were not unacquainted with the
Balcena mysticetus, though they do not seem to
have had any knowledge of its uses. Their ac-
quaintance with the spermaceti whale, found in the
Indian ocean, was somewhat more accurate. It
is interesting to observe, in the account of Near-
chus's Voyage, as given by Arrian,* the terror of
the sailors when they first perceived the blowing
of these animals. As soon as this ancient naviga-
tor had successfully conducted his fleet past a
single whale, he received an applause equal to what
he could have expected had he vanquished an ene-
my's fleet.

Whenever a whale is seen from the ship, one
or more boats are sent in pursuit ; and if they
get close to it, the harpooner strikes it with his
harpoon ; but should the boat not get near
enough for this purpose, he heaves the harpoon
at the whale with great skill. As soon as the
animal finds itself wounded, it descends, drago-ino-
the line fastened to the harpoon after it with
such velocity, that one of the crew is constantly

* Hist. Ind. § 29 and 30.

F %

98 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEX.

obliged to pour water on the stem of the boat, to
prevent its taking fire by the intense friction of
the line. A hatchet is always at hand to cut the
line, should it chance to get entangled. A large
whale will sometimes run out the lines of two
boats.* As soon as a whale is struck, they hoist
a flag, or jack, in the boat, which being seen by
the ship, the crew all run about the decks crying
".A fall, A fall? as much as to say, " He's
fast, HisfasC Immediately all hands, except a
few to take care of the ship, get into the boats
with great expedition, and repair to the place where
they expect the whale will rise to breathe. When
it appears, they strike it again, and so on till there
are sometimes three or four harpoons fast. When
the whale becomes fatigued, and is severely wound-
ed, it throws up water mixed with blood, and
immediately the whole boats surround the groan-
ing monster, and dispatch it with their spears.
At this moment, the sea, to a considerable dis-
tance, looks as if tinged with vermilion. In dy-
ing, the noise occasioned by the whale's lashing the
water with its tail and fins, is heard to a very great
distance.

As soon as a whale is killed, it is towed by the
boats to the ship, and being made fast by tackles

* Fifteen hundred fathoms.
F 5

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 99

placed at the nose and tail, is immediately strip-
ped of its blubber. This process is by Greenland
sailors termed flinching, and is very speedily per-
formed. The harpooners and their assistants cut
the blubber into long stripes, which are hoisted
into the ship, cut into smaller pieces, and thrown
into the hold, from whence they are again brought
upon deck to be pared and barrelled up. In
flinching, the whale is turned round by a tackle
made fast to the fins.

The process of paring and barrelling up the
blubber, is termed making off, and is performed at
leisure times when the crew are not engaged in the
pursuit of live whales. The blubber being brought
upon deck, the fleshy parts are pared off, and it is
then placed, piece by piece, on a block, having three
iron spikes in the top to keep it steady ; here it is
skinned by a harpooner, and is then ready for
chopping. This operation is performed by the
boat-steerers, who cut the blubber into pieces of
about one foot long, and three inches square at the
ends. When it is chopped they push it off the
bench into the speck trough, placed by the side of
the hatchway, having what is called a lull bag
attached to a hole in the bottom for the purpose of
letting down the chopped blubber to a tub in the
hold. The blubber is afterwards put, piece by piece,

100 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

into the bung-hole of the casks, which are all fixed
for that purpose previous to the vessel's leaving
home.

The Balcena mysticetus, notwithstanding its
immense size, is exposed to the multiplied assaults
of various enemies inhabiting its own element.
Of these, the most dangerous is said to be the
Thyseter rnicrops, or Black-headed Spermaceti
Whale. The voracity of this species is very
great. Its ordinary food is the seal ; but if it
does not find a sufficient quantity of them for its
prey, it attacks the common whale, and even
the shark, and tears them to pieces. The Sea
Unicorn, or Monodon monoceros, is another of the
whale's enemies ; and it is said that they never
meet without engaging in combat. Its immense
tusk, or horn, generally gives it a superiority over
the whale. Marten gives an account of a com-
bat between the Saw-Fish, Sgualus pristis, and
the Iceland whale, to" which he was an eye witness.
It was extremely dangerous to -approach the field
of battle, and his observations were therefore made
at a distance. The water was greatly agitated, and
rose to an immense height, accompanied with a
noise that stunned the ears of the hearers. A fog
coming on prevented Marten from ascertaining the
result of this direful combat ; but he was informed

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 101

by the sailors that the whale was generally van-
quished ; and that they kept aloof till such time '
as the saw-fish, eating the tongue, relinquished the
carcass, which they made their prey.

A species of crab, vulgarly called the whale-
louse, the Oniscus ceti of Fabricius, if not the
most dangerous, is perhaps the most troublesome of
the whale's enemies. We scarcely took any whales
but had one or two of these vermin fastened to
them. The Oniscus ceti is about the size of a small
crab, and is covered with remarkably hard scales.
Head similar to that of the Pediculus humanus,
with four horns, two of which serve as feelers ; the
other two are hard, curved, and serve as clinchers
to fix the animal to the whale. Underneath its
chest, the Oniscus has two carvers, like scythes,
with which it collects its food ; and behind these
are four feet, that serve it for oars. It has six
other clinchers behind, which rivet it so closely to
the whale, that it cannot be disengaged but by cut-
ting out the entire piece to which it is joined. The
Oniscus is jointed in the back like the tail of a lob-
ster, and the tail covers it like a shield when feed-
ing. It fixes itself upon the tenderest part of the
whale's body, between the fins, on the sheath, or on
the lips, and in this position tears pieces out of the
whale like a rapacious vulture,

102 VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN.

Dr. Colquhoun gives the following statement of
the value of the whale-bone and whale-oil imported
into Great Britain in the following years :

1805 £663,535

6 608,206

7 521,240

8 ........ . 544,567

9 500,715

10 566,967

24th, Latitude at midnight, by observation,
81° 12' 4:2". Longitude, as near as our incorrect
instruments would permit ascertaining, 12° 42' E.
Sea pretty clear of ice, with a considerable swell.

25th and 26'th, Continued cruizing near the ice
in search of whales, and were fortunate enough to
capture three, two of which were size fish.

28th, Latitude, by observation, 81° 50'. Sea
almost quite clear of ice, with a great swell ; wea-
ther serene. Had our object been the making of
discoveries, there was not apparently any thing to
have prevented us from going a good way farther
to the north ; at least we did not perceive any
large fields of ice in that direction ; though it is
more than probable we should have very soon
fallen in with them. We were a little farther
north than Captain Phipps, who ran a great risk
of being locked up entirely by the ice. He was,

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 103

in fact, ice-bound from 31st July to 10th August,
and during that time the packed ice rose as high
as the main-yard. The want of ice in that place,
where we then were, was perhaps owing to the ef-
fects of some late gale clearing it away. The great
swell in the sea appeared to indicate this to have
been the case.

In my second voyage to this country, in 1807,
we could not penetrate higher than 78° 30'. A
ridge of ice totally prevented our farther progress.

May 29th and 30th, Course nearly E. S. E. to-
wards the Seven Islands. We had on the 30th a
considerable quantity of bay ice, and made but lit-
tle progress. Occasional showers of snow. Saw
only one whale.

31st, Tacked to the W. S. W. Ice increasing.
Saw several whales. Lay to for fishing. Got a
very large whale, which measured sixty-four feet
in length.

During the flinching of the whales, there were
generally a considerable number of sharks in the
vicinity of the vessel. They were principally of
that variety termed Squalus pristis, or Saw-Fish.
At this time, one more voracious than the rest, ap-
proached close to the side of the whale's carcass,
and seized a large piece of blubber, which was
ready to be hoisted on board. Before he could

104 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

make Tais escape, however, he was struck by a
harpoon, and his flight being thus obstructed, he
was attacked with spears : a tackle was immediate-
ly fastened to his jaws, and being hoisted on deck*
his belly was riped open, and the blubber recover-
ed. The carpenter, too, stripped a considerable
quantity of skin from his tail. Notwithstanding
this rude treatment, he was no sooner let down
than he swam away with great agility.

The Squdlus pristis^ or Saw-Fish is often
found upwards of fifteen feet long ; with sword-
shaped bony snout, nearly one-third the length of
the fish, and denticulated on both sides : mouth
placed beneath the anterior part of the head ; jaws
furnished with several rows of teeth ; habit rather
slender ; body convex above, and somewhat flatten-
ed beneath ; skin rough 5 colour greyish brown
above, paler beneath.

June 1st, Continued in the same situation, be-
ing almost icebound. Sent out the boats after
a whale, which made its escape below the ice after
being struck ; the lines of course were lost. The
harpoons are marked with the names of the ship
and captain, and if a whale that has been killed by
one ship be found by another, she is obliged to
deliver up a certain portion of the blubber to the
former.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEX. 105

From June 1st to June 7th, the weather was,
upon the whole pretty good, though the squalls
were very frequent, accompanied by dense showers
of snow. The rigging, by this time, had assumed
a very strange appearance, at least what would
be deemed as such by a more southern sailor.
The ropes were frequently increased to double
their usual size by the incrustations of ice, which
had to be beat off by handspikes to allow them to
pass through the blocks. The decks were every now
and then besprinkled with saw-dust and sand, to
counteract the slippiness arising from the combined
effects of frost and grease. The cabin-floor, too,
was covered with saw-dust, and the crew kept some
of it in their pockets to clean their hands. In this
space of time we catched five fish of different mag-
nitudes.

During the time we were in those high lati-
tudes, our compasses, five in number, varied widely
from each other; but this is known to happen to all
compasses, according as they are placed in different
parts of the ship. That which was kept in the ca-
bin varied the least. This may perhaps tend to
confirm the opinion of some navigators, who have
maintained that the polarity of the needle is injured
by intense cold. The notion of the variation de-

106 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

creasing as the distance from the Pole diminishes,
does not appear to have any foundation. According
to Captain Phipps,

In Lat. 78° 22' N. Long. 9° 8' E. Mean var. was 14° 55'

79 50 .... 102 20 3

80 30 . . . . 15 4 11 56

On referring to the Appendix, it will be seen
that the variation, as observed in the Sybyll, in
lat. 78° 11', long. 6° 55' E. amounted to 19° 6'.
And by the same excellent observations, combined
with those of Captain Flinders, it is proved that
the variation depends more on the ship's course
than on any thing else. It is much to be regretted
that Captain Phipps did not mention the course his
ship was under when he made his observations on
the variation. As they stand at present, they want
the most essential element.

8th, Latitude, by observation, 79° 42'. Sea
nearly clear of ice. Course W. S. W. i S. At
seven P. M. we discovered Hackluyt's Headland,
bearing E. N. E. distant four or five leagues. The
weather was hazy, and we had but an indistinct
view of this black precipitous promontory. Saw
several whales, but got none.

June 9th, Intense frost. Observed the freezing
of salt water. Shot two seals, one of which only
we brought on board.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEX. 107

16th, Stood in nearer the shore to the south of
Hackluyt's Headland. Several of the sea-unicorns
were here observed at no great distance from the
ship. I noticed two which passed close under our
stern, that had double horns of a considerable size.
The unicorns make a great noise in blowing, and,
when at a distance, are often mistaken for whales.
We fired several shots at them, and mortally
wounded a small one, which we brought on board.
It measured 9^ feet in length, and its horn was four
feet one inch.

The Monodon monoceros, Narwhal, or Uni-
corn Fish, has been found twenty-two feet long, and
twelve round. Head nearly one-fourth the length
of the body, round, small, and terminates in an ob-
tuse rounded snout. Mouth small ; no teeth, but
a large wreathed tusk or horn. Sometimes two*,
and often ten feet long, proceeds from its upper jaw,
diverging to one side, and tapering gradually to-
wards the tip. Eyes and ears very small ; one re-
spiratory orifice in the back part of the head ; back
broad, convex, and tapering towards the tail,
which is horizontally placed, and is divided into

* There is at the Sfadthouse at Amsterdam, the skull of a Nar-
whal, with two horns. There is likewise a skull to be seen in
Hamburgh, having two horns, each above seven feet long, and
eight inches round.

F 6

108' VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

two obtuse oval lobes. Body of an ovoidal shape ;
no dorsal fins, but a high ridge or projection ex-
tends from the blow-hole to the origin of the tail,
and gradually diminishes in height as it approach-
es the tail ; two pectoral fins ; colour generally ci-
nereous, dappled with numerous multiform black
spots ; belly a shining white, and soft as velvet to
the touch.

Naturalists differ greatly as to the food of the
unicorn. Perhaps it differs with the parts of the
ocean it inhabits. Small fishes, Mollusca and Ac-
tinea, are their more general food.

The Narwhal swims with great swiftness, and,
like the other cetacea, cannot remain long under
the water without respiring. When frightened, or
attacked, they huddle together in such numbers
that they force their long horns into the body of
each other, and thereby become an easy prey to
their pursuers.

This animal, though seemingly harmless, is, as
already mentioned, a dangerous enemy of the com-
mon whale ; and has been known to dart its horn
into the side of a ship *.. The vessel must have
sunk had not the horn been broken off by the vio-
lence of the stroke.

* Forst. Voy. p. 353.

- VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEX. 109

The oil produced by the Monodon monoceros,
though scanty, is, in point of quality, superior to
any other cetaceous oil.

The horn of the Narwhal was long the object
of a kind of superstitious respect. It was said to
be efficacious in the cure of several distempers ;
and was prized as being of the very highest value.
The Margraves of Bareuth possessed one which
cost them 600,000 rix dollars ; and the kings of
Denmark have a most magnificent throne formed
of these horns, which is esteemed more valuable
than if composed of gold. Captain Scoresby (of
the Resolution,) has a very fine bed made of the
same materials. It is reckoned a great curiosity,
and is extremely handsome. The horn is of a fin-
er texture, and takes a better polish than that of
the elephant.

11th, Got two fish. Several sail of Greenland-
men in company.

12th, Strong easterly breeze. Ran a consider-
able vvay to the westward.

13th and 14th, Gale increased, and we ran a
considerable way farther to the westward. Cold
very intense.

June 15th, Latitude, by observation, 78° 15'.
Made fast to a large iceberg.

110 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEX.

16th, Got a size fish. While we were made
fast to this iceberg, some of the crew had put a
piece of blubber to the fire, and, allured by the
smell, a very large bear came and put his nose over
the gunwale. One of the harpooners shot him ;
but a squall coming on, we did not bring the car-
cass on board.

From the 16th to the 21st, we caught four
whales, of various sizes. The weather was now
getting hazy, as it generally does at this season of
the year, and the whales were become more difficult
to catch.

22d, Spoke the Catharina Elizabeth, of Han-
over, Captain Schultz, after being a considerable
time separated from the rest of the Greenland
ships. From her we learned that a French fri-
gate, and some smaller vessels, were in the North.
This intelligence determined us not to lessen our
distance from Spitzbergen, but to shape our course
to England by the Feroe Isles. This determina-
tion, however, had nearly sent us to a. French
port, for the Guerriere was taken off the Feroe
Isles on the 19th July, two days after we passed
them.

From the 22d to the 29th, the day on which
we set sail for England, we took six whales,

VOYAGE TO SPITZBEItGEX. Ill

making in all twenty-four, of which fourteen were
size fish.

On the 26th, an accident happened which was
like to have deprived us of one of our boatsteer-
ers ; but, fortunately, was not finally attended
by any evil consequence. He was thrown out of
the boat by the stroke of a whale's tail, but kept
himself on the top of the water by his oar. The
crew were in such disorder, that before they got
him into the boat, he was almost senseless with
cold, and still worse before they could row him
to the ship. He was brought down to the cabin,
stripped, and laid on a blanket before the fire.
His hair was like so many icicles, and the body
exhibited a very cadaverous appearance. No pul-
sation was to be found in any part, and I held a
mirror before his mouth without producing the
least evidence of respiration. I immediately or-
dered the soles of his feet to be rubbed with strong
brine ; his temples were chaffed with strong vola-
tile spirits, and the same were applied to his nose.
Hot flannels, moistened with camphorated spirits
of wine, were applied to the spine, and over the
breast, and renewed every quarter of an hour.
Stimulating powders were put to his nose, but
without any apparent effect ; he never showed

112 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

the least symptoms of animation ; nor could the
body be brought to any degree of warmth, not-
withstanding being rubbed with hot coarse cloths.
As the last resource, I ordered one of the men to
blow into the patient's mouth, as strongly as he
could, holding his nostrils at the same time lest
any of the air should escape. When I found, by
the rising of the chest, that the lungs were pro-
perly inflated, I ordered him to quit blowing, and
with my hand pressed down the chest and belly,
so as to expel the air. This imitation of natural
respiration was pursued for a short time, till, put-
ting my hand on his left breast, I found his heart
give some feeble beats : soon after, the pulse at
the wrist was found to beat. In a short time he
opened his eyes, and looked round in wild amaze ;
then shut them again. As soon as he was able to
swallow, I gave him a gentle cordial, which was
repeated every five minutes, till he was a great
deal recovered. The Captain was so kind as to
order him to be put into his own bed, with two
of the men, one on each side, to bring him the
sooner to a natural heat. Plenty of clothes being
put over them, he soon fell into a profound sleep
and gentle perspiration, and so remained for two
or three hours, when he awoke quite well and re-
freshed, but had rather a wild look. On giving

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 113

him a glass of brandy, he arose and went to his
own birth as before. All the time I was on board,
the poor fellow expressed the greatest gratitude to
me, and thankfulness to God, for thus being provi-
dentially rescued from the grasp of death. It is
almost needless to remark, that in this inclement
region, swimming is of little or no use to any per-
son who may chance to fall overboard, as his mus-
cular motion is almost instantaneously obstructed
by the intensity of the cold.

Colds and coughs are the disorders most preva-
lent among sailors in this country. Sometimes the
scurvy breaks out amongst them, but I never saw
any symptoms of it. Fractures, dislocations, sprains,
bruises, cuts, and frost-biting, give the surgeons a
goodsdeal of trouble. A certain complaint, either
contracted in England, or the Orkney or Shetland
Isles, is very common.

The Resolution did not lose a single man in ei-
ther of the voyages I made to this country. By
the blessing of Providence, they were again all
safely restored to their native land.

30th, Latitude 76° 37' ; Longitude, as near as
we could calculate, 1° West. Steered due south.
The men were employed in cleaning the ship, dry-
ing the lines, &c.

114 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

From July 1st to July 5th, course southerly.
Weather fine, but hazy. Ice diminishing, and the
sun getting gradually nearer the horizon. Saw
several whales ; they were now become extremely
furious, and made considerably more noise in
blowing.

Voyagers are, in these high latitudes, often
surprised and delighted by the appearance of mock
suns and moons, but I was not so fortunate as to
perceive any. The frozen particles floating in the
atmosphere are supposed to be the cause of these
phenomena.

From the 5th- to the 7th, wind at N. E. Course
S. S. W. Lat. 71° 10'. Greenland ships, from
their clumsy make, when heavily loaded, sail with
but very little expedition.

July 8th, Strong breeze from E. N. E. Course
S. S. W. \ W. Ice totally gone. Sun almost
coincident with the horizon.

From the 8th to the 17th, excellent weather.
Course generally S. S. E. \ E. On the 17th,
we fell in with the westernmost of the Feroe
Isles. Our dead reckoning was considerably to
the east.

The Feroe Isles lie 70 leagues N. W. from Unst,
in Shetland, and extend to 62° 30.'

VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 115

Seventeen of these islands are habitable. They
are rugged, mountainous, and rocky ; the interven-
ing currents deep and rapid ; the sea around them
turbulent, and at times so much agitated by whirl-
winds, that vast quantities of water are forced
up into the air, and the fishes contained therein
frequently deposited on the tops of the highest
mountains. These are equally resistless on land,
tearing up trees, stones, and animals, and carry-
ing them to very distant places. Whirlpools, too,
are numerous in these seaSj and extremely dan-
gerous ; that near the island of Suderoe is the
most noted. It is occasioned by a crater, sixty-
one fathoms deep in the centre, and from fifty to
fifty-five on the sides. The water forms four fierce
circumgyrations. The point they begin at is on the
side of a large bason, where commences a range of
rocks running spirally, and terminating at the
verge of the crater. This range is extremely rug-
ged, and covered with water from the depth of
twelve to eight fathoms only. It forms four equi-
distant wreaths, with a channel from thirty-five
to twenty fathoms in depth between each. On
the outside, beyond that depth, the sea suddenly
sinks to eighty and ninety. On the south border
of the bason, is a lofty rock, called Sumboe Muni;
noted for the number of birds which frequent it,

116 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.

On one side, the water is only three or four fathoms
deep, on the other, fifteen. The danger at most
times, especially in storms, is very great. Ships
are irresistibly drawn in : the rudder loses its power,
and the waves beat as high as the masts, so that an
escape is almost miraculous ; yet at the reflux,
and in very still weather, the inhabitants will ven-
ture in boats for the sake of fishing. Arct. Zool
2d edit. vol. i. p. 56.

On arriving at these southerly latitudes, the ap-
pearance of the moon and stars was, to use the lan-
guage of Captain Phipps, almost as extraordinary
a phenomena as the sun at midnight, when we
first got within the Arctic circle.

On the 20th, lay becalmed off Fair Isle, a bar-
ren spot, about three miles long, situated midway
between the Shetland and Orkney Isles, and inha-
bited by about 170 persons. The shores are high
and rugged ; greatest depth of the water near it
twenty-six fathoms. The tide here runs with great
velocity, and forms at the east end a considerable
eddy. Some ships belonging to the famous Spa-
nish Armada were lost on this isle.

When lying off Fair Isle, we sent the men we
had got from Shetland ashore in the row-boats.

22d, Passed North Ronaldshaw light in the
Orkneys. The wind being but little, and at S. E.

VOYAGE TO SPITZBEIIGEN. 117

we were drifted by the tide down the Murray
Firth, or Tuum JEstuar'ium of the Romans, as
far as Spey Bay. Tacked and stood in for Kin-
naird's Head, the TaizalumPromontorium, which,
with the north-eastern extremity of Caithness,
forms this capacious bay.

July 28d, Off Fraserburgh, to which we sent
letters by a fishing boat. Tacked and stood in for
Peterhead, the most eastern part of Scotland, and
famous for its medicinal waters ; it is situated about
thirty miles north of Aberdeen.

25th, Fell in with a cutter off Saint Abb"s
Head, which we at first took for a French priva-
teer : to our satisfaction, however, she proved to be
the Try-All of London, a privateer of 14 guns, and
70 or 80 men.

26th, Came in sight of Whitby. It blowing
very hard, we could not anchor in the roads.
Sailed farther to the south ; then tacked and hoist-
ed a flag for a pilot. In the evening a pilot came
off in his cobble ; but it blew so remarkably hard,
that he could not get any person to come along
with him but an intrepid lame tailor. They came
on board, but being heavy laden, and the tides low,
we could not get into Whitby. We therefore de-
termined to run for Hull ; but, calling at Scarbo-

118 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEX.

rou^h, we got a brig to come to Whitby roads in
order to lighten us.

July 27th, Fourteen of our men being afraid of
the press, took two boats, and ran into Robbin
Hood's Bay. Anchored this evening in Whitby
Roads.

28th and 29th, The brig lightened us about
100 tons, and the evening of the latter day we got
withinside the bridge, and were mustered by the cus-
tom-house officers, as is usual on those occasions.

31st, Paid off'.

In concluding the account of this voyage, it
would be unpardonable in me to neglect men-
tioning the kindness and attention with which I
was always treated by Captain Scoresby, and his
son the mate. Captain Scoresby is well known
to the world at large, for his vigorous, enterpriz-
ing character, as well as for consummate skill in
nautical matters. As Captain of the ship, his
conduct was most exemplary. He was attentive
to all the duties of religion, and preserved a pro-
per decorum, and strict discipline, without harsh-
ness, amonsr the crew.

APPENDIX.

No. I.

JL he following extract from Dr. Edmonston's
work on the Shetland Isles, gives a curious ac-
count of the popular superstitions still prevalent
among their inhabitants. " On no subject are
they more superstitious than in what relates to
fishing. Some of the more skilful prophets can
foretell, from the knots in the bottom-boards of
a boat, whether it will be lucky to fish or not ;
and whether it will be overset under sail, or be
otherwise cast away ; and boats have been reject-
ed and torn up in consequence of such a prophecy.
When they go to the fishing, they carefully avoid
meeting any person, unless it be one who has
long enjoyed the reputation of being lucky ; nor,

7

120 APPENDIX.

when the boat has floated, is it deemed safe to turn
it but with the sun. If a man tread on the tongs
in the morning, or be asked where he is going, he
need not go to the fishing that day. When at sea,
the fishermen employ a nomenclature peculiar to
the occasion, and scarcely a single thing then re-
tains its usual name. Most of their names are of
Norwegian origin ; for the Norwaymen were re-
ported to have been successful fishers. Certain
names must not be mentioned while they are set-
ting their lines, especially the minister and the cat ;
and many others equally unmeaning.

" Witchcraft is still believed by the peasantry
to exist in Zetland ; and some old women live bv
pretending to be witches, for no one ventures to re-
fuse what they ask. About six years ago, a man
entered a prosecution in the sheriff-court at Lerwick
against a woman for witchcraft. He stated, that she
uniformly assumed the form of a raven, and in that
character killed his cattle, and prevented the milk
of his cows from yielding butter. The late Mr.
Scott, then sheriff-substitute, permitted the case to
come into court, and was at great pains to explain
the folly, and even criminality of such proceed-
ings.

" Nearly allied to witchcraft is a firm belief in
the efficacy of alms. When a person is anxious

APPENDIX. 121

for the accomplishment of any particular event, or
considers himself in danger, he vows alms to some
person, generally an old woman who enjoys the re-
putation of being provided for in that manner ; and,
if his wishes are realized, he scrupulously performs
his vow. There are the ruins of an old church in
the parish of Weesdale, called Our Lady s Church,
which is supposed to possess a still greater influence
in this respect than any living being. Many are
the boats which are said to have arrived safe at
land in consequence of a promise to this effect,
where death, without such an intervention, appeared
inevitable. Several coins have been found at differ-
ent times concealed in the walls of this Loretto of
Zetland.

" A belief in the existence of Broroiie, the tu-
telar saint of husbandry, is beginning to be ex-
ploded ; but the fairies or trows have still a " lo-
cal habitation and a. name." They occupy small
stony hillocks or laiowes, and whenever they make
an excursion abroad, are seen mounted on bul-
rushes riding in the air. If a person should hap-
pen to meet them, without having a Bible in his
pocket, he is directed to draw a circle round him,
on the ground, and in God's name forbid their
nearer approach, after which they commonly dis-
appear. Tlrey are said to be very mischievous,

G

122 APPENDIX.

not only shooting cattle with their arrows, but even
carrying human beings with them to the hills.
Child-bed women are sometimes taken to nurse a
prince, and although the appearance of the body re-
main at home, yet the immaterial part is removed.
Such persons are observed to be very pale and ab-
sent ; and it is generally some old woman who en-
joys the faculty of bringing soul and body toge-
ther." Vol. ii. p. 73.

No. IL

In order to make this little work as complete as
possible, I have annexed the following accounts of
the Dutch, English, and American whale-fisheries.
The two former I have compiled from authentic do-
cuments, and the latter is extracted from the late
valuable work of Mr. Pitkin on the Commerce of
the United States.

Dutch Whale Fishery. — Towards the latter end
of the sixteenth century, the whale-fishing on the
coast of Spitzbergen became considerable. It was
entirely in the hands of the English till the
year 1578. This fishery was first carried on by

APPENDIX. 123

a company, which sent thither annually a kw ships,
to the exclusion of the rest of their countrymen,
and who also endeavoured to exclude foreigners.
In the year 1613, the company's ships amounted to
seven sail,who,on their arrival at Spitzbergen, found
there fifteen Dutch, French, and Flemish ships,
besides English interlopers. Next year, the Dutch
sent eighteen sail, of which four were men of war.
In 1615, the king of Denmark sent a squadron
of three men-of-war to assert his exclusive ri^ht,
but with such indifferent success, that his majesty
thought fit to give up the point. In 1617, our
company were more lucky than in any other year,
and actually made one thousand nine hundred
tun of oil. The Dutch made, for many years af-
ter, very indifferent voyages ; and, as their great
statesman, M. De Witt, well observes, had certain-
ly been forced to relinquish the trade, had it not
been laid open by the dissolution of their Green,
land Company, to which he attributes their having
in his time, beat the English, and almost all other
nations, out of that trade, which they then carried
on to a prodigious extent.

The following is a list of the ships sent from
Holland to the Greenland and Davis' Straits whale-
fishery, from the year 1661 to 1788, both inclu-
sive, with an account of the number of whales catch-
ed each year :

124

APPENDIX.

A List of Greenland and Davis' Slrails'Ships, from
Holland, since the year l66l, with the number of'
Fish caught each year.

Years

Ships.

Fish.

Years
1693

Ships.

Fish.

1661

133

452

90

175

1662

149

862

1694

63

161

1663

202

932

1695

97

187

1664

193

782

1696

122

428

1665

"| War with
> England, no
\ Ships out.

1697

131

1279

1666

1-698

139

14S3

775~

1667
1668

1699

151

155

57J

1700

173

913

1669

13S

1013

1701

208

2071

1670

148

792

J1702

224

687

1671

158

1088

1703

207

644

4672
7673

\ War with
V England, no
\ Ships out.

11704

130

652

|1705

157

1678

1674

|1706

151

966

1675

147

900

1707

131

126

1676

145

812
~ 785_

11708

122

533

1677

145

1709

126

192

1678

120

1118

1710

137

62

1679

126

792

11711

117

631

1680

151

1373

H712

108

373

1681
1682

175

876

11713

93

237

195

1444

|1714

108

1291

1683
1684
1685

242

1338

1715

134

698

233 | 1153

1716

153

535

209 j 1283

|1717

179

392

1686

189 | 664

1718

139

280

1687

194 621

j 1719

211

346

1688

214 | 340

|1720

228

455

1G89

160 | 21.1

|1721

260

733

1690

117 | 785

11722

254

1101

1691

9 | War with

1 France.

|1723

1

233

314

1692

32 1 56

1 1724

232 358

APPENDIX.

125

A List of Greenland and Davis' Straits Skips,
Holland, since the year 1661, with the num.
Fish caught, each year.

from
ber of

Years

Ships.

Fish.

Years

Ships.

Fish.

1725

226

530

1757

180

423

1726

218

244

1758

159

371

1727

202

402

1759

155

464

1728

182

363

1 700

154

454

1729

1730

184

229

1761
1762
1763

161

357

168

248

165

189

1731

164

298

1732

176

31*

1764

161

224

1733

184

36U

1705

165

477

1734

186

327

1766

167

189

1735

185

496

1767

165

179

1736

191

857

17G8

160

600

1737
1738

196

504

1769

mii

152

1127

195

472

1 50

523

1739
1740

192

728

1771

150

143

187

665

1772
1773

131

768

1741
1742
1743
1744

178

312

134

444

173

558

1774

130

450

185

937

1775

129

105

187
~~ 184~

1494

1776

123

509

1745
1746

568
~To§6_

1777

116

427

180

1778

111

306

1747
1748
1749

164

776

1779

105

168

94

278

1780

82

476

157

619

1781

) War w

i lam!, no

ith Eng-
Shipsout

1750
1751

158

590

1782

162

330

1783

55

330

175-2

159
16§~

540

1784

62

198

1753

63$

1785

65

300

1754

171

672

1786
"1787

67

476

1755

181

720

67

239

1756

186

503

1788

69

190

N. B. From the year 1719 are included the Davis' Straits Ships.

g3

126 APPENDIX.

From this period the Dutch whale-fishery ra-
pidly declined, and was at length totally annihilat-
ed during the late war.

English Whale Fishery. — The English Whale
Fishery, like that of Holland, was originally carried
on by an exclusive company. The first association
of merchants for this purpose was soon dissolved ;
but, owing to successive grants of the same kind,
the trade continued fettered for a considerable pe-
riod posterior to the Revolution. During this
time, it was, as might have been expected, carried
on with almost no success. — In 1724, the South
Sea Company embarked largely in this depart-
ment of industry ; but, having, in the course of
eight years, incurred an immense loss, they were
glad to abandon it. In 1738, the government be-
ing determined to encourage this fishery, a boun-
ty of 20s. per ton was granted to all ships of 200
tons and upwards, employed therein ; as this
bounty, however, was found insufficient, in 1749
it was doubled. This extraordinary encourage-
ment, by factitiously determining a portion of
the national capital into this channel, had at
last a considerable effect ; but a long time elap-
sed ere the English could, even with these superior
advantages, successfully compete with the Dutch.
Since this epoch many alterations have been

APPENDIX.

127

made in the laws respecting the Greenland fishery;
and at the commencement of the late war, the
bounties were reduced, owing to the market being
overstocked with oil.

The following account of the number of Eng-
lish and Scottish vessels employed in the Green-
land whale fishery, and of their tonnage, from
1771 to 1800, both inclusive, is extracted from
M'Phersons Annals of Commerce :

England.

1 Scotland.

Years.

Vessels.

Tons.

Vessels.

Tons.

1771

50

14,700

9

2,797

1772

50

15,378

9

2,797

1773

55

16,712

10

3,016

1774

65

19,770

9

2,773

1775

96

29,131

9

2,773

1776

91

27,047

7

2,251

1777

77

21,917

7

2,251

1778

71

20,291

5

1,587

1779

52

16,907

3

956

1780

50

14,900

4

1,282

1781

34

9,859

5

1,459

1782

38

11,122

6

1,764

1783

47

14,268

4

1,095

1784

89

27,224

7

2,047

1785

136

41,741

13

3,865

1786

162

49,426

23

6,997

1787

219

64,286

31

9,057

1788

216

63,399

31

8,910

1789

133

38,751

28

7,846

1790

130

30,290

22

5,898

1791

93

27,598

23

6,308

1792

73

21,496

28

5,487

1793

38

8,437

14

3,813

1794

47

12,906

13

3,480

1795

34

9,135

10

2,613

1796

42

11,516

9

2,317

1797

50

13,757

10

2,614

1798

56

16,140

10

2,614

1799

57

16,731

10

2,629

1800

51

15,077

10

2,652

g4

128 APPENDIX.

From 1788, this table is made up from the an-
nual accounts laid before Parliament ; and the
number of ships, and the tonnage, always refers to
the number of those who actually cleared out fou
Greenland. We have already given Dr. Colquhouns
estimate of the value of the whale oil and whale-
bone imported into Great Britain from 1805 to
1810.

American Whale Fishery. — The whale fishery
first attracted the attention of the Americans in
1690, and originated at the island of Nantucket,
in boats from the shore. In 1715, six sloops, of
thirty-eight tons burden each, were employed in
this fishery, from that island. For many years
their adventures were confined to the American
coast, but as whales grew scarce here, they were
extended to the Western Islands, and to the Bra-
zils, and at length to the North and South Seas*.
For a long time the Dutch seemed to monopolize
the whale fishery, which they followed, with success,
in the Greenland or Northern Seas.

As early as 1663, they had two hundred and
two ships employed in this fishery, and in 1721,
as many as two hundred and sixty ; in 1788, the
number was reduced to sixty-nine, and for many
years past, not only has this branch of their com-

* See Collections, of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

APPENDIX. 129

meTce, but almost every other, been completely an-
nihilated. In 1731, the Americans had about
thirteen hundred tons of shipping employed in this
fishery along their coast. About the year 1750,
the whale left the American coast. The hardy en-
terprise and activity of the American sailor, how-
ever, soon followed him in every part of the North-
ern and Southern Seas,

From 1771 to 1775, Massachusetts employed,
annually, one hundred and eighty-three vessels,
of thirteen thousand eight hundred and twenty
tons, in the northern whale fishery, and one hun-
dred and twenty- one vessels, of fourteen thousand
and twenty-six tons, in the southern ; navigated by
four thousand and fifty-nine seamen. The peculiar
mode of paying the seamen, in these hazardous
voyages, has contributed not a little to the success
of the voyages themselves. Each has a share in the
profits of the voyage, and is dependent on his own
exertions for the reward of his toils. Whether, he
shall be rich or poor, depends on his activity in
managing the boat, in pursuit of the whale, and
his dexterity in directing the harpoon. This has
led to a spirit of enterprise and hardihood, never
surpassed, if ever equalled, by the seamen of any
nation in the world.

g5

ISO APPENDIX.

During the war of the American revolution,
this fishery was destroyed ; on the return of peace,
it recovered, by degrees, and, from 1787 to 1789,
ninety-one vessels, of five thousand eight hundred
and twenty tons, were annually employed in the
northern fishery, and thirty-one vessels, of four
thousand three hundred and ninety tons, in the
southern, with one thousand six hundred and
eleven seamen. The quantity of spermaceti oil
taken annually, from 1771 to 1775, was thirty-
nine thousand three hundred and ninety barrels,
and of whale oil eight thousand six hundred and
fifty. From 1787 to 1789, the quantity of sper-
maceti taken annually was seven thousand nine
hundred and eighty barrels, and whale oil thirteen
thousand one hundred and thirty. In the repre-
sentation made to Congress in the year 1790, by
the legislature of Massachusetts, it is stated that,
before the late war, about four thousand seamen,
and twenty-four thousand tons of shipping were
annually employed, from that State, in the whale
fishery, and that the produce thereof was about
£350,000 lawful money, or about 1,160,000 dol-
lars. A great part of this fishery has been car-
ried on from Nantucket, where it originated,, a
small island about fifteen miles in length, and two
or three miles in breadth, situated about thirty

APPENDIX. 131

miles from the coast. Before the revolutionary-
war, this small island had sixty-five ships, of four
thousand eight hundred and seventy-five tons, an-
nually employed in the northern, and eighty-five
ships, of ten thousand two hundred tons, in the
southern fishery. From 1787 to 1789, it had
only eighteen ships, of one thousand three hun-
dred and fifty tons, in the northern, and eighteen
ships, of two thousand seven hundred tons, in the
southern fishery. For many years past, this fishery
has been carried on from this island, and from
New Bedford, a large commercial and flourish-
ing town on the coast, in its neighbourhood, and
has employed from fifteen thousand to eighteen
thousand tons of shipping, principally in the
Southern Seas. Although Great Britain has, at
various times, given large bounties to her ships
employed in this fishery, yet the whalemen of
Nantucket and New-Bedford, unprotected and un-
supported by any thing but their own industry
and enterprise, have generally been able to meet
their competitors in a foreign market. The value
of spermaceti and common whale oil, whale bone,
and spermaceti candles, exported since 1802, has
been as follows : —

132 APPENDIX.

Whale (common)

■ Spetmaceti oil

oil and bone.

and candles.

Dolls.

Dolls.

1S03

280,000

■ 175,000

1804

310,000

70,000

1805

315,000

163,000

1806

418,000

182,000

1807

476,000

139,000

1808

88,000

1 33,000

1809

169,000

136,000

1810

222,000

132,000

1811

78,000

273,000

1812

56,000

141,000

1813

2,500

10,500

1814

1,000

9,000

The common whale oil finds a market in the
West Indies, Great Britain, France, Spain, and
Portugal. The greatest part of the spermaceti oil
is carried to Great Britain. The late war be-
tween the United States and Great Britain has
again almost annihilated the cod and whale fish-
eries.* While in the years previous to the re-
strictive system and the war, the fisheries furnish-
ed articles for exportation to an amount of more
than three millions of dollars, in 1814 the exports
of the produce of the fisheries is reduced to the sum
of 188,000 dollars.

* Twenty-four whalemen were taken by the British in the late
war.

APPENDIX. 133

No. III.

During the publication of this little work, I was
favoured, through the medium of a friend, with
some very important remarks made by a Gentle-
man of great nautical skill and experience, in the
year 1814, on board his Majesty's ship Sybyll,
while in the North Seas, for the protection of the
Greenland fishery.

The first point to which he alludes, is the va-
riation of the compass ; and, respecting it, he ob-
serves, " Being anxious that every thing possible
should be done for the improvement of navigation,
I determined, while in those high latitudes, to
take every opportunity of observing to what ex-
tent the variation of the compass might be affect-
ed by the ship's course. A paper containing
Captain Flinders's observations on the same sub-
ject, had previously been sent to me by the Lords
of the Admiralty ; and as these observations had
chiefly been made in high southern latitudes, it
became doubly important to ascertain whether
the same laws were followed in high northern la-
titudes. Experience has completely proved that
they are ; and, in fact, it is some years since I
ascertained that the course down the English Chan-

134 APPENDIX.

nel, just taking the ship clear of head-lands, the
opposite one up Channel would run the ship on the
French coast.

" In order to render the result of my observa-
tions on this subject as clear as possible, I have
selected a few, and inserted them in the order they
were taken. The correctness of them may be re-
lied on, being all calculated by two persons, exa-
mined by a third, and the whole taken by myself.

" I boarded a good many Greenland ships when
in the North, whose masters all agreed in main-
taining, that they experienced strong south-east
currents on their return home, and were often
confounded at making the coast of Norway when
they expected to make that of Shetland. Now,
I have no hesitation in saying, that if the same
difference in the variation is to be found on board
of a Greenland ship, that was found to exist in
the Sybyll and Princess Carolina, the idea of a
strong easterly current is unfounded, and is mere-
ly resorted to, to account for the error in their
dead reckoning, arising from their not allowing a
sufficiency of westerly variation in running from
the ice to the south-west. A degree of longitude
is soon lost in those high latitudes, and the error
must increase in running to the south-west, if pro-
per allowance be not made ; for I am very cer~

APPENDIX. 135

tain that a different variation will be found on
every point of the compass the ship's head is put
on. The greatest will be found when the ship's
head is at West, gradually declining till it comes
to East.

" The Princess Carolina, as well as Sybyll, ex-
perienced the same currents as the masters of the
Greenland ships supposed to exist ; for when we
made Shetland, by Arnold's chronometer, No. 1981,
to a mile, our dead reckonings were nearly 6° to the
westward in both ships ; and when we made the
North Cape by the same chronometer, (which was
under my own care,) the longitude in both shipsr by
account, was 4° to the westward also. The one er-
ror was occasioned by not allowing a sufficient quan-
tity of variation in running to the south-west, and
the other by allowing too much in running to the
north-east.

" I do not know whether the same observations
may hold good when applied to ships coming from
the Baltic ; but should they do so, they must ef-
fectually account for ships getting down on the
coast of Holland, when they suppose themselves
well over in Mid-channel. Perhaps this may, in
some measure, serve to account for the loss of so
many of our brave tars when coming from that
sea.

136 APPENDIX.

'•' Notwithstanding the whole tenor of my ob-
servations, as well as those of Captain Flinders, led
me to believe that the cause of the variation must
exist in the ship ; yet I had great difficulty in com-
ing to a conclusion so remote from what had former-
ly been held to be truth ; and for that reason, dur-
ing our stay at St. Mary's, I took the opportunity
of making a decisive experiment on this subject. I
first went with the Azimuth compass to St. Agnes's
lighthouse, from which I set the flag-staff on St.
Mary's Castle, E. 31° N. I next went to St.
Mary's castle, and from it set the lighthouse W.
31° S. Finding these opposite bearings thus cor-
respond when on shore, I am fully persuaded the
cause of the differences observed when at sea, must
exist in the ship."

After making these remarks on the variation of
the compass, he next goes on to make some obser-
vations, as they occurred in the voyage.

" On the 16th of June, saw Bear, or Cherry
Island, which, at a distance, looks like a saddle,
both extremities being very high, aud the middle
low. It may be seen 20 leagues ofF in clear wea-
ther. At noon, it bore by compass, N. b E. \ E.
when I observed in 73° 44/ N. good observation,
and our chronometer gave good sights, 20° 3' E.
By seven P. M. we had run 33 miles on a N.N.W.

APPENDIX. 137

course corrected, when the south end of the island
bore by compass E. b N. 3 or 4 leagues, which,
brought up from noon, will make it in 74° 19'
N. Lat. and 20° 7 E. Long. At this time it
came on foggy, and prevented us from ascertaining
its extent. Soundings are to be obtained to the
southward of this island, and up to Spitzbergen ;
black mud and small shells.

" 19th, Saw Spitzbergen, and on the 20th were
close in with the South Cape. We carried regular
soundings to 11 fathoms, about three miles off;
but this part of the coast appearing to be surround-
ed with rocks, we did not attempt approaching
it more closely. Our chronometers made it in
about 16° 2' E. We saw some beacons placed
along the coast, each in the form of a cross, which,
are, no doubt, placed there for the guidance of the
Russian hunters.

" About this time we bore away for the North
Cape, in order to water, and procure any refresh-
ments that could be got. After making the land
to the westward of the Cape, we stood into a large
bay, to look for a place of safety to accomplish
our purpose, hardly suspecting that any inhabi-
tants were to be found. On standing in, we ob-
served some boats under sail, one of which was
soon brought alongside, that contained a family

138 APPENDIX.

of Finmarkers, some of whom spoke the Danish
language. They informed us of the town of If am-
merfest being close by, and offered to take us in.
This offer was soon embraced, and, in a few hours,
the town opened to our view ; which, to our as-
tonishment, contained a church, batteries, &c.
The Captain of the portion made his appear-
ance, and anchored us in safety. I made a sur-
vey of this place, and ascertained its latitude and
longitude as correctly as possible, which are as-
follow :

The latitude of Hammerfest Town,
ascertained by a good Sextant
and False-Horizon, taken on
shore, was found 70° 38' 34" N.

Longitude, by Arnold's chronome-
ter, No. 1981, taken on shore} by
the same means . . 24 28 0 E.

Variation by same means . 114 0 W.

Range of thermometer on board from 70° to 75°

Range of thermometer on shore 75 80

High water on full and change, at three hours ;
rise and fall 8 feet. I found it is very much in-
fluenced by the wind, and when it blows strongly
from the N. W. it rises considerably higher.

APPENDIX. 139

" The town of Hammerfest is situated on the
island of Qualoon, 25 Danish miles in extent,
and is one of the departments of West Finmark,
which contains 25,000 souls. This province is
divided into parishes, each having its priest, and
over the whole is a bishop, to enforce the duties
of the Lutheran religion. There are 200 regular
soldiers scattered in different quarters of the pro-
vince, commanded by a captain, who governs
the whole eountry. About thirty houses compose
the town of Hammerfest, with about 200 inhabi-
tants ; with one church, one hospital, a custom-
house, and some public and private stores. The
customhouse has regular established officers ap-
pointed from Copenhagen. The captain of the
port is under the same appointment, and wears the
uniform of the Danish navy.

" The principal trade of this place is in furs
and fish, which are all sent into Russia. The ex-
tent of the imports and exports I was not able ac-
curately to learn, but suppose them, in time of
peace, to be something considerable. I was told
by the captain of the port, that in 1808, 200 sail
had been seen here at one time. The Russian
merchants have their agents scattered all over
West as well as East Finmark. They make
their purchases from the Finmarkers, with flour,
brandy, sail-cloth, fishing-lines, coarse cloth, and

140 APPENDIX.

other articles of that kind, for enabling them to car-
ry on the fishing and hunting business. I was in-
formed that 3000 boats were yearly employed by the
Finmarkers in fishing ; for as soon as the hunting
season is over, they devote their whole attention to
the fisheries. Four or flVe men are attached to each
boat.

" Cod and herrings abound on this coast, and are
the finest I ever saw, being of a much firmer and
better texture than those caught on the banks of
Newfoundland.

'* As the Finmarker dries his fish in the sun,
without salt, it must be but a very poor employ-
ment : but, as all his wants are easily supplied,
with this kind of commerce he is satisfied, and
thinks money of little consideration. Perhaps, after
all, they are more happy than the lower orders of
more enlightened nations.

" Perhaps a fishing establishment at Hammer-
fest might be attended with considerable advan-
tage. The deepness of the water would render
a departure from the mode of fishing observed on
the banks of Newfoundland indispensable. The
hook and line are here of little consequence. The
Finmarkers all fish with nets, and we adopted
the same method with considerable success. No
place is better adapted than this for curing with

APPENDIX. 141

salt. From its situation, embosomed by hills, the
thermometer in the summer, as our observations
show, often reaches a very high degree of tempera-
ture. With proper management, a cod might then
have been prepared for the market in three days,
while at Newfoundland, in the best weather, it re-
quires five.

" At Newfoundland, they have only from twelve
to fourteen hours sun ; at Hammerfest, nearly four
months. The advantages, therefore, as to climate,
on the side of Hammerfest, are most obvious. Per-
haps, too, an establishment in the North might, in
time of war, be of some importance, as it would
the better enable us to prevent our enemies enjoy-
ing any share of so lucrative a trade as the whale
fishing.

" The cold is by no means so intense in winter as
might be expected. The inner harbour, though
seldom agitated by winds, was never seen frozen
over ; and the moonlight is sufficiently strong to
render labour practicable. Nature has been very
provident with respect to fuel, the whole country
abounding with good turf. The severity of the cli-
mate diminishes the vital principle in the human
race ; the men soon get old, and the women are past
child-bearing at thirty-five.

142 APPENDIX.

" The chase of the bear, who is never killed
before January or February, when they are in the
best condition, sets the courage and cool delibera-
tion of the Finmarker in a most conspicuous point
of view. In October, the Finmarker carefully
watches the haunts of the bear, who, at that time,
seeks for a winter retreat ; and having marked it,
returns in January to the attack. Having prepar-
ed a lance, to which a cross-bar is affixed, about
one foot from the point, the Finmarker, when the
wind is in a favourable direction, makes a large fire
before the bears den ; the smoke soon irritating
the animals, they rush out, one by one : at
this critical moment the Finmarker, concealing
his lance, places himself behind the fire, and the
bear, rearing on his hind legs, in order to seize
him, he plunges his lance up to the cross-bar
in his breast.* The rest are served in the same
manner.

" The rein deer are here extremely plenty, and
very dear ; we paid L.2 for one of them. Certainly
they had heard something of the wealth of John
Bull.

* The intrepidity of the Finmarker, and the dangers he has to
encounter in the chase of the seal, are well described in Acerbi's
excellent Travels in the North, vol. i. p. 291.

APPENDIX. 143

" Some of the better sort of people at Hamraer-
fest, possessed a few cows and sheep. The cows
were not larger than a bull-dog, and the sheep like
a good tom-cat.

t( The female beauty of this place had sufficient
attraction to induce the gentlemen of the Princess
Carolina and Sybyll to give them a ball and sup-
per. The invitation was quite general, and the
whole went off with great eclat.

" Most of the Russian agents and merchants
spoke the English language ; but they were by no
means anxious to communicate information which
they thought might, one day or other, ruin their
commercial pursuits. It was only when they got a
good dinner, and plenty of wine, that any thing
particular could be drawn from them.

" The Sybyll and Princess Carolina sailed from
the Downs on the 6th of May, and on the 18th of
August arrived in Long Hope Sound. Our high-
est latitude was 78° 16', where we saw many of
the Greenland ships. We sailed as far east as
32° 44', and experienced one continued series of
good weather. The thermometer never was below
26° in the night, and seldom above 44° in the day,
with the exception of the time we were at Ham-
merfest."

144

APPENDIX.

0

Mon.

A. M.

Am

Pii-

Day,

Latitude

Longi-

tude

cor-

Ship's

Magnetic

Variation.

Diffe-

and

or
P. M.

in

tude in

rectedfor

head.

amplitude.

ren ce .

Year.

dip,

&e.

1814

May

North.

East.

11

A.M.

53# 38

2° 22

24°

12

NW.

S. 61°15'E

24°49'W

12

A.M.

54 34

2 37

23

59

N.W.&N.

S. 61 20 E.

26 18

16

A.M.

57 2

3 37

24

1

N.N.E.

S. 66 45 E.

21 35 \
27 0 J

5° 25

16

P.M.

57 53

2 21

21

32

N&WiW

N.62 50 W

17

A.M.

59 4

0 32

14

42

N.&W.

S. 75 20 E.

27 40

24

P. M.

60 27

1 58

15

21

N.E.&E.

N.50 15 W

24 49

25

A.M.

60 27

2 0

27

fi

N.&W.

S. 60 40 E.

24 4

26

P.M.

60 52

2 50

18

33

N.E.

N.58 40 W

20 14

.

June

0

P.M.

73 14

18 10

17

50

N.E.&N.

N.60 30 W

11 35

4

P.M.

74 27

19 58

19

9

w.s.w.

N.G0 30 W

14 28

8

P.M.

73 59

29 55

18

20

N.E.&N.

N.66 15 W

4 551

8

P.M.

74 0

29 52

15

22

W.S.W.

N.48 40 W

11 20 j

6 25

13

P.M.

71 10

27 10

8

52

S.W.iS.

N.25 0 W

13 10

18

P.M.

75 22

18 21

15

2

N.&E.

N.37 50 W

16 12

26

P.M.

78 11

6 55

20

38

E.S.E.

N.55 0 W

19 6

July

3

A.M.

72 53

21 21

17

47

S.S.E.

S. 78 40 E.

9 22

22

P.M.

70 27

10 3S

17

14

E.S.E.

N.61 30 W

16 6

Aug.

1

P.M.

68 58

10 25

15

26

W.iN.

N.52 40 W

26 42

2

A.M.

68 33

9 10

13

40

W.i&S.S.

S. 79 32 E.

25 14

2

P.M.

68 20

8 59

14

32

S.S.W.

N.55 30 W

22 42)

7 37

2

P.M.

68 20

8 59

13

50

West.

N.51 16 W

25 11 >

2

P.M.

68 20

8 59

12

57

N.E.&N.

N.56 20 W

17 34)

8

P.M.

67 37

3 20

15

6

South,

N.57 35 W

26 43

11

A.M.

62 10

0 20

West,

13

48

W.&N.

S. 65 55 E.

31 15

14

A.M.

61 23

0 6

20

18

W.iS.

S. 52 30 E.

30 36 \

5 8

14

P.M.

60 57

0 23

16

47

E.S.E.

N.60 0 W

25 28/

14

P.M.

60 57

0 10

3

00

W.JS.

N.34 30 W

30 40 1

10 25

15

P.M.

60 25

0 28

11

52

E.SE.

N.62 0 W

20 15/

17

P.M.

59 7

—

13

23

W.&S.

N.55 30 W

30 32

Sept.

West,

2

A.M.

58 17

8 31

6

58

N.W.

S. 61 15 E.

33 1 )
29 31 j

9

A.M.

58 1"

8 31

8

26

North.

S. 62 17 E.

3 30

13

P.M.

49 59

6 22

8

12

S.E.&E.

N.71 30 W

22 30

14

A.M.

49 C

— —

19

5

. . .

S. 46 30 E.

27 16

1*1

27 31

APPENDIX. 115

Remarks, 8,-c. Sfc.

Very good sights.

Very good. Sounded 100 fathoms, fine mud.

Not very good.

Very good. ) Both sights were equally good. The ship was im*

Very good. | mediately put on the other tack.

Very good. North Cape N.W.&W.^W. 5 leagues.

Very good.

Very good. Ship surrounded with ice.

Very good.
Very good.

Very good. Ship some motion.
Very good.

All these sights were equally good. The evening was remarkably
fine, with a light air from the S.E. The first set was taken
with the ship's head S.S. W. ; 2d set at West; and 3d set at
N.E.&N. The ship was put round in this manner for the pur-
pose.

The mean of six sets all good. The weather calm and fine.

The mean of two sets ship steady. Longitude obtained by 0 , ]) ,
and chronometer.

Very good.

Very good. Nonh end of Shetland, S. 11° E. 5orG leagues.

Very good. North end of Shetland, S. 48° W. 4 or 5 leagues.

Very good. Outer Skerry, Shetland, S.S.W. 2 miles.

Very good. Lamb Head, Orkneys, W.^S. 4 or 5 miles.

Both these sights were good, and the ship was put on the courses,
as given purposely. St. Kilda Island S. 9° W. 8 or 9 leagues.
No soundings at 180 fathoms.

At anchor in St. Mary's. St Agnes's Light-House W. 54° S.
Castle E. 51° S.

This azimuth was taken on shore at St. Agnes's Light- House,
with false horizon.

This amplitude was taken on shore at St. Mary's ftag-staff.

Most excellent.

H

146

APPENDIX.

No. IV.

In the Appendix to the second volume of Flin-
ders1 Voyage, which has lately been published,
there is an article of considerable length and abi-
lity, on the Variation of the Compass. In that
article, the observations made by that excellent sail-
or, corroborate, in a remarkable degree, and accord
with those made in the Sybyll. I have selected a
few of the most decisive instances.

1802.

Lat.

April
22. A.M.

39° 38' S.

24.

39 38

July
15. P.M.

34 5

34 6

28. -

25 0

29. ' ,24 43

Long.

144° 40' E. az
144 1

135
135
153
153

9

9
23
27

anipl.

Course.

W.S.YV.

s.

S.E.6E.
S.W.&W,

N.W6N.
S.E.iS.

Var.

11
7

52' E,
59

I

1 33 W. |

3 56E. /
9 39 |
6 33 /

Diff.

3°53

5 39
3 6

After such a coincidence, the fact of the varia-
tions depending greatly on the ship's course can-
not possibly be called in question ; though it is
certainly surprising that it has not been sooner at-
tended to in the way that it deserves, by other
navigators ; for it did not altogether escape their

APPENDIX. 147

observations. Mr. Wales, astronomer to Captain
Cook's ship, the Resolution, had made the same ob-
servations in a pretty accurate manner ; and M.
Entrecasteaux, though without assigning any cause,
says, that the " Compass showed differences of se-
veral degrees in variation at sea, though observed
with the greatest care, and within the space of a few
minutes."

After a more enlarged series of observations shall
have been taken, and after the attention of astrono-
mers is directed to this fact, we may confidently ex-
pect a most important improvement in the science

of navigation.

No. V.

The following article, " on the tremendous
concussions of the fielus of ice," in the Arc-
tic Sea, is extracted from Mr. Scoresby's valuable
Memoir on " Polar Ice" in the Wernerian Society's
Transactions.

" The occasional rapid motion of fields, with
the strange effects produced on any opposing sub-

h %

148 APPENDIX.

stance, exhibited by such bodies, is one of the
most striking objects this country presents, and is
certainly the most terrific. They not unfrequent-
ly acquire a rotatory movement, whereby their
circumference attains a velocity of several miles
per hour. A field, thus in motion, coming in con-
tact with another at rest, or more especially with a
contrary direction of movement, produces a dread-
ful shock. A body of more than ten thousand mil-
lions of tons in weight,* meeting with resistance,
when in motion, the consequences may possibly be
conceived !

" The weaker field is crushed with an awful
noise : sometimes the destruction is mutual. Pieces
of huge dimensions and weight are not unfrequent-
ly piled upon the top, to the height of twenty or
thirty feet, whilst doubtless a proportionate quan-
tity is depressed beneath. The view of those stu-
pendous effects in safety^ exhibits a picture sublime-
ly grand, but where there is danger of being over-
whelmed, terror and dismay must be the predomi-

* A field of thirty nautical miles square surface, and thirteen
feet in thickness, would weigh somewhat more than is here
mentioned. Allowing it to displace the water in which it floats,
to the depth of eleven feet, the weight would appear to be
10,182,857,142, nearly in the proportion of a cubic foot of sea
water to 64 lbs.

APPENDIX. 149

nant feelings. The whale-fishers at all times re-
quire unremitting vigilance to secure their safety,
but scarcely in any situation, so much as when na-
vigating amidst those fields. In foggy weather
they are particularly dangerous, as their motion
cannot then be distinctly observed. It may easily
be imagined, that the strongest ship can no more
withstand the shock of the contact of two fields,
than a sheet of paper can stop a musket ball. Num-
bers of vessels, since the establishment of the fish-
ery, have been thus destroyed. Some have been
thrown upon the ice ; some have had their hulls
completely torn open; and others have been buried
beneath the heaped fragments of the ice.

"■ In the year 1804, I had a good opportunity of
witnessing the effects produced by the lesser mas-
ses in motion. Passing between two fields of bav-
ice, about a foot in thickness, they were observed
rapidly to approach each other, and before our ship
could pass the strait, they met, with a velocity of
three or four miles per hour ; the one overlaid the
other, and presently covered many acres of surface.
The ship proving an obstacle to the course of the
ice, it squeezed up on both sides, shaking her in a
dreadful manner, and producing a loud grinding,
orlengthened and acute tremulous noise, accord-
ingly as the degree of pressure was diminished or

150 APPENDIX.

increased, until it had risen as high as the deck.
After about two hours, the velocity was diminished
to a state of rest ; and, soon afterwards, the two
sheets of ice receded from each other nearly as ra-
pidly as they had before advanced. The ship, in
this case, did not receive any injury ; but had the
ice been only half a foot thicker, she would proba-
bly have been wrecked.

" In the month of May of the present year
(1813,) I witnessed a more tremendous scene.
Whilst navigating amidst the most ponderous ice
which the Greenland seas present, in the prospect
of making our escape from a state of besetme?it,
our progress was unexpectedly arrested by an
isthmus of ice, about a mile in breadth, formed
by the coalition of the point of an immense Jield
on the north, with that of an aggregation of floes
on the south. To the north field we moored the
ship, in the hope of the ice separating in this
place. I then quitted the ship, and travelled
. over the ice to the point of collision, to observe
the state of the bar which now prevented our re-
lease. I immediately discovered that the two
points had but recently met; that already a pro-
digious ma§s of rubbish had been squeezed upon
the top, and that the motion had not abated.

APPENDIX. 151

The fields continued to overlay each other with a
majestic motion, producing a noise resembling
that of complicated machinery, or distant thunder.
The pressure was so immense, that numerous
fissures were occasioned, and the ice repeatedly
rent beneath my feet. In one of the fissures, I
found the snow on the level to be three and a half
feet deep, and the ice upwards of twelve. In one
place, hummocks had been thrown up to the
height of twenty feet from the surface of the field,
and at least twenty-five feet from the level of the
water ; they extended fifty or sixty yards in length,
and fifteen in breadth, forming a mass of about
two thousand tons in weight. The majestic un-
varied movement of the ice — the singular noise
with which it was accompanied — the tremendous
power exerted — and the wonderful effects produ-
ced— were calculated to excite sensations of novelty
and grandeur, in the mind of even the most care-
less Spectator ,'

" Sometimes these motions of the ice may be ac-
counted for. Fields are disturbed by currents —
the wind — or the pressure of other ice against
them. Though the set of the current be general-
ly towards the south-west, yet it seems occasional-
ly to vary ; the wind forces all ice to leeward,

h 4

152 APPENDIX.

with a velocity nearly in the inverse proportion to
its depth under water ; light ice consequently
drives faster than heavy ice, and loose ice than
fields : loose ice meeting the side of a field in its
course, becomes deflected, and its re-action causes
a circular motion of the field. Fields may ap-
proximate each other from three causes : First,
If the lighter ice be to windward, it will, of ne-
cessity, be impelled towards the heavier ; second-
ly, As the wind frequently commences blowing
on the windward side of the ice, and continues se-
veral hours before it is felt a few miles distant to
leeward, the field begins to drift before the wind
can produce any impression on ice, on its oppo-
site side; and, thirdly, Which is not an uncom-
mon case, by the two fields being impelled towards
each other, by winds acting on each from opposite
quarters.

" The closing of heavy ice, encircling a quantity
of bay ice, causes it to run together with such
force, that it overlaps wherever two sheets meet,
until it sometimes attains the thickness of many
feet. Drift iee does not often coalesce with such
a pressure as to endanger any ship which may
happen to be beset in it : when, however, land
opposes its drift, or the ship is a great distance

APPENDIX. 153

immured amongst it, the pressure is sometimes
alarming."

No. VL

On the approximation toxvards the Poles, and on
the possibility of' reaching the North Pole.
From Mr. Scoresby's paper in the Wemerian
Society's Transactions.

" We have already remarked, that the 80th
degree of north latitude is almost annually acces-
sible to the Greenland whale-fishers, and that this
latitude, on particular occasions, has been exceed-
ed. In one of the first attempts which appears to
have been made to explore the circumpolar re-
gions, in the year 1607, Henry Hudson pene-
trated the ice on the north-western coast of Spitz-
bergen to the latitude of 80° 23' N. In 1773,
Captain Phipps, in " a voyage towards the North
Pole," advanced, on a similar track, to 80° 37' of
north latitude. In the year 180(i, the ship Reso-
lution of Whitby, commanded by my father.

h 5

154 APPENDIX.

(whose extraordinary perseverance and nautical
ability are well appreciated by those in the Green-
land trade, and proved by his never-failing suc-
cess,) was forced, by astonishing efforts, through a
vast body of ice, which commenced in the place of
the usual barrier, but exceeded its general extent,
by at least a hundred miles. We* then reached a
navigable sea, and advanced without hindrance, to
the latitude of 81| north, a distance of only 170
leagues from the pole ; which is, I imagine, one of
the most extraordinary approximations yet rea-
lized."
*****

" The southern hemisphere, towards the pole,
was explored by Captain Cook, in various meridi-
ans, and with indefatigable perseverance. In his
first attempt, in 1772, they met with ice in about 51°
south, and longitude 21° east. They saw great
fields in 55° south, on the 17th of January, 1773,
and, on February the 24th, were stopped by
field-ice in 62° south latitude, and 95° east longi-
tude.

" Again, on the second attempt, in December
of the same year, they first met with ice in about

* " I accompanied my father, on this voyage, in the capacity of
thief mate."

APPENDIX. 155

62° south latitude, and 172-173° west longitude;
and on the 15th, saw field-ice in 66°. On the
30th January, 1774, they were stopped by immense
ice-fields in latitude 71° 10' 30" and 107° west
longitude, which was the most considerable approxi-
mation towards the south pole that had ever been
effected.

" Thus, it appears, that there subsists a remark-
able difference between the two hemispheres, with
regard to the approach of the ice towards the equa-
tor ; the ice of the southern being much less per-
vious, and extending to much lower latitudes than
that of the northern hemisphere,

" That the 73d or 74th degree of north latitude
can be attained at any season of the year, whereas
the 71st degree of south latitude has been but once
passed. — And,

" That, whilst the antarctic ne plus ultra ap-
pears to be the 72d degree of latitude, that of the
arctic extends full 600 miles farther ; the nearest
approach to the southern pole being a distance of
1130 miles, but to the north, only 510 miles.

" With regard to the probability of exploring
the regions more immediately in the vicinity of the
pole than has yet been accomplished, or even of
reaching the pole itself, I anticipate, that, without
reference to the reasoning on which the opinion is

2

156 APPENDIX.

grounded, it might be deemed the frenzied specula-
tion of a disordered fancy. I flatter myself, how-
ever, that I shall be able to satisfy the Society,
that the performance of a journey over a surface of
ice, from the north of Spitzbergen to the pole, is a
project which might be undertaken, with at least a
probability of success.

" It must be allowed, that many known difficul-
ties would require to be surmounted — many dan-
gers to be encountered — and that some circum-
stances might possibly occur, which would at once
annul the success of the undertaking. Of these
classes of objections, the following strike me as
being the most formidable, which, after briefly
stating, I shall individually consider in their, or-
der.

1. The difficulty of performing a journey of 1200
miles, 600 going and 600 returning, over a
surface of ice — of procuring a sufficient convey-
ance— and of carrying a necessary supply of
provisions and apparatus, as well as attend-
ants. ,
" The difficulties may be increased by
(a.) Soft snow ;

(b.) Want of continuity of the ice ;
(c.) Rough ice ; and
(d.J Mountainous ice.

APPENDIX. 157

" 2. The difficulty of ascertaining the route, and
especially of the return, arising from the per-
pendicularity of the magnetical needle.

" 3. Dangers to be apprehended,
(a.) From excessive cold ;
(b.) From wild beasts ;

" 4. Impediments which would frustrate the scheme ;
(a.) Mountainous land ;
(b.) Expanse of sea ;
(c.) Constant cloudy atmosphere.

"1. It is evident that a journey of 1200 miles,
under the existing difficulties, would be too arduous
a task to be undertaken and performed by hu-
man exertions alone, but would require the as-
sistance of some fleet quadrupeds, accustomed to
the harness.

" Rein-deer, or dogs, appear to be the most ap-
propriate. If the former could sustain a sea-voyage,
they might be refreshed in the northern part
of Spitzbergen, which affords their natural food.
They could be yoked to sledges framed of the
lightest materials, adapted for the accommodation
of the adventurers, and the conveyance of the re-
quisites. The provision for the adventurers, for
compactness, might consist of portable soups, pot-
ted meats, &c. and compressed lichen for the rein-

158 APPENDIX.

deer. The instruments and apparatus might be in
a great measure confined to indispensables, and
those of the most portable kinds; such as tents, de-
fensive weapons, sextants, chronometers, magnetic
needles, thermometers, &c.

" As the rein-deer is, however, a delicate ani-
mal, difficult to guide, and might be troublesome if
thin or broken ice were required to be passed;
dogs would seem, in some respects, to be prefer-
able. In either case, the animals must be procured
from the countries wherein they are trained, and
drivers would probably be required with them. The
journey might be accelerated, by expanding a sail
to every favourable breeze, at the same time, the
animals would be relieved from the oppression of
their draughts. It would appear, from the reputed
speed of the rein-deer, that, under favourable cir-
cumstances, the journey might be accomplished
even in a fortnight, allowing time for rest and ac-
cidental delays. It would require a month or six
weeks with dogs, at a moderate speed ; and, in the
event of the failure of these animals on the journey,
it does not seem impossible that the return should
be effected on foot, with sledges for the provisions
and apparatus.

" (a.) Soft snow would diminish the speed, and
augment the fatigue of the animal; to avoid which,

APPENDIX. 159

therefore, it would be necessary to set out by the
close of the month of April, or the beginning of
May ; or at least, some time before the severity of
the frost should be too greatly relaxed.

" (b.) Want of continuity of the ice would cer-
tainly occasion a troublesome interruption; it might
nevertheless be overcome, by having the sledges
adapted to answer the purpose of boats* ; and it is
to be expected, that although openings amidst the
ice should occur, yet a winding course might in ge-
neral be pursued, so as to prevent any very great
stoppage. %

" (c) Many of the most prodigious fields are
entirely free from abrupt hummocks from one ex-
tremity to the other, and field ice, as it appears in
general, would be easily palpable.

" (d.) The degree of interruption from moun-
tainous ice would depend on the quality of its sur-
face. If, as is most probable, it were smooth, and
free from abrupt slopes, it would not prevent the
success of the expedition.

" 2. The direct route would be pointed out, for
some part of the way at least, by the magnetic
needle ; and when its pole should be directed to-

* The sledges might consist of slender frames of wood, with the
ribs of some quadruped, and coverings of water-proof skins, or
other materials equally light.

160 APPENDIX.

wards the zenith, should that position ever obtain,
the sun would be the only guide. Or, the posi-
tion of the true north being once ascertained, three
sledges in a line, at a convenient distance apart,
might enable the leading one to keep a direct
course. A chronometer would be an indispensable
requisite, as the opportunity, for lunar observations
could not be expected to occur sufficiently often.
Were the Pole gained, the bearing of the sun at
the time of noon, by a chronometer adjusted to
the meridian of north-west Spitzbergen, would
afford a line of direction for the return ; and, the
position, in regard to longitude, (were the sun vi-
sible) could be corrected, at least twice a-day, as
the latitude decreased. The degrees of longitude
being so contracted, any required position would
be pointed out by the watch with the greatest pre-
cision.

" 3. (a.) Among the dangers to be apprehend-
ed, the coldness of the air stands prominent. As,
however, the cold is not sensibly different, between
the latitudes of 70° and 80° with a strong north
wind, it may be presumed that at the Pole itself,
it would be very lktle more oppressive than at the
borders of the main ice, in the 81st degree of north
latitude, under a hard northerly gale : And since
this cold is supportable, that of the Pole may be

APPENDIX. 161

deemed so likewise. The injurious effects of the
severity of the weather might be avoided by a ju-
dicious choice of woollen clothing, the external air
being met by an outward garment of varnished silk,
and the face defended by a mask, with eyes of glass.
The exterior garment, would, at the same time, be
water-proof, and thus capable of shielding the body
from accidental moisture.

" (b.) The white bear is the only ferocious ani-
mal known to inhabit those regions, and he rarely
makes an attack upon man. At any rate, he might
be repulsed by any offensive weapon. And, as the
prey of the bears is scarce in the most northern la-
titudes, they would not probably occur in any abun-
dance.

" 4. Hitherto no insurmountable objection has
been presented : a few serious obstacles, should
they occur, remain to be considered.

" (a.) Mountainous land, like mountainous ice,
would check the progress of the expedition, in pro-
portion to the ruggedness of its surface and the
steepness of its cliffs. Its occurrence would, never-
theless, form an interesting discovery.

" (b.) From the pretended excursions of the
Dutch, many have believed that the sea at the
Pole is free from ice. Were this really the case,
the circumstance would certainly be an extraordi-

162 APPENDIX.

nary one ; but I consider it too improbable to ren-
der it necessary to hazard any opinion concerning
it.

" (c.) From the facts stated in pages 319, 320,
of this paper, I think we derive a sanction for cal •
culating on clear weather at all times, but with
southerly storms ; and, as these occur but rarely,
the progress of the journey would not probably be
suspended by an obscure sky, except for short periods,
and at distant intervals.

" Notwithstanding I have now distinctly consi-
dered every obvious objection and difficulty to be
surmounted, I am nevertheless sensible, that in
the realising of any project or discovery, whether by
sea or on land, there will occur many adventitious
circumstances, which may tend to mar the progress
of the best regulated expedition. Therefore, it may
not be improper to confirm and strengthen the whole,
by directing the attention to what has been done,
in journeying under difficulties which may bear a
comparison with the undertaking here alluded to,
and occasionally under circumstances the most un-
favourable to success.

" 1st, When treating of icebergs, I alluded to
the journey of Alexei Mahkoff, in which it ap-
pears, that he performed near eight hundred miles
across a surface of packed ice, in the spring of

APPENDIX. 163

1715, in a sledge drawn by dogs ; and consequent-
ly, that he might be supposed to have encountered
the principal difficulties that could be expected in
the proposed scheme, whilst we have the advantage
of improving by his experience.

" 2d, Speaking of the south-western tendency of
the ice, I have also noticed the loss of several of
the Dutch Greenland fleet in 1 777, from which we
learn, that part of the unfortunate suffering crews,
under every privation of provision and clothing, and
exposed to the severity of an Arctic winter, accom-
plished a journey on foot, along the coasts of Old
Greenland, from the east side, near Staten Hook,
to the Danish settlements on the west, a distance
of near a hundred leagues.

" 3d, On contrasting the projected polar journey
with the catalogue of marvellous occurrences, and
wonderful preservations which are exhibited in the
records of maritime disasters,* the difficulties of
the undertaking in a great measure vanish, and its
dangers are eclipsed by the wonderful results which
necessity has, in various instances accomplished.1'

* " See Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea."
FINIS.

Extracts from Reviews in Recommendation of this Work,

" Mr. Laing performed two Voyages to Greenland, in
the successive years of 1806 and 1807, as Surgeon, under the
elder Captain Scoresby ; whose son acted, at. that time, as
chief mate. His narrative is written with neatness, sim-
plicity, and taste ; and comprises, in a very small com-
pass, what information could be desired on the subject of
which it treats."

Edinburgh Review, No. LIX.

" Mr. Laing's sensible and unpretending Narrative of a
' Voyage to Spitzbergen,' forms an admirable contrast to
the pompous and frothy quarto of Bernard O'Reilly, Esq."'
Quarterly Review, No. XXXVII.

" In the little Volume before us, we have an interesting
addition made to the natural history of regions of which
our knowledge is as yet, comparatively speaking, but im-
perfect. Mr. Laing has been evidently a diligent and
acute observer, and communicates the fruits of his ob-
servation in a simple and perspicuous manner."

Philosophical Magazine, Vol. LI. No. CCXXXVIIL

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