6 Effects of A rciic Ice on Climate of Europe, 



ice, and the huge masses of snow placed upon the inclined 

 ridges of the Alps; those wlio have not forgotten that, accord- 

 ing to the affirmations of these experienced men, the report 

 of a pistol, or even a mere shout, may produce frightful cata- 

 strophes, will agree in the opinion I have just expressed. 



Icebergs often descend without melting, even to pretty 

 low latitudes. They sometimes cover immense spaces ; we 

 may therefore suppose that they sensibly disturb the tempera- 

 ture of certain zones of the oceanic temperature, and then, 

 by means of communication, the temperature of islands and 

 continents. A few instances of this will not be out of place. 



On the 4th October 1817, in the Atlantic Ocean, 46° 30' 

 north latitude. Captain Beaufort fell in with icebergs advan- 

 cing southwards. 



On the 19th January 1818, on the west of Greenspond, in 

 Newfoundland, Captain Daymont met with floating islands. 

 On the following day, the vessel was so beset with ice that 

 no outlet could be seen even from the top-masts. The ice, 

 for the most part, rose about 14 English feet above the water. 

 The vessel was carried southwards in this manner for 

 twenty-nine days. It disengaged itself in 44° 37' latitude, 

 120 leagues east of Cape Race. During this singular im- 

 prisonment. Captain Daymont noticed upwards of a hundred 

 icebergs. 



On the 28th March 1818, in 41° 50' north latitude, 53° 13' 

 longitude west of Paris, Captain Vivian felt, during the whole 

 day, an excessively cold wind blowing from the north, which 

 led him to suppose that ice was approaching. And, in fact, 

 on the following day, he saw a multitude of floating islands, 

 which occupied a space of upwards of seven leagues. " Many 

 of these islands,'' says he, " were from 200 to 250 English 

 feet high above the water.'' 



The brig Funchal^ from Greenock, met with fields of ice on 

 two diflierent occasions, in her passage from St John's, New- 

 foundland, to Scotland ; first on the 17th January 1818, at the 

 distance of six leagues from the port she had left ; and after- 

 wards, in the same month, in latitude 47° 30'. The first 



