Scientific Intelligence — Meteorology. 197 



surface, seem to be swimming in a thick milky substance ; and tlie 

 ripple, a"s it sweeps along, occasions long white lines, so that it is 

 only by looking perpendicularly upon the water around the boat that 

 its transparency is perceived, and the deception is detected. 



In another part of my Journal, it is shewn that the danger of ap • 

 preaching these fragile masses of ice is far from imaginary, and that 

 there is also a necessity for a strict observance of silence in their 

 immediate vicinity. The fact is, that, as the berg is constantly 

 breaking away during summer, there are generally some pieces all 

 but on the point of falling, and capable of being detached by the 

 smallest concussion of the air ; the explosion of a gun scarcely ever 

 failing to bring down one of the masses. 



In cloudy or misty weather, when the hills are clothed with newly 

 fallen snow, nothing can be more dreary than the appearance of the 

 shores of Spitzbergen ; whereas, on the contrary, it is scarcely pos- 

 sible to conceive a more brilliant and lively effect than that which 

 occurs on a fine day, when the sun shines forth and blends its rays 

 with that peculiarly soft, bright atmosphere which overhangs a coun- 

 try deeply-bedded in snow ; and with a pure sky, whose azure hue 

 is so intense as to find no parallel in nature. On such an occasion, 

 the winds, near the land at least, are very light, or entirely hushed, 

 and the shores teem with living objects. All nature seems to ac- 

 knowledge the glorious sunshine, and the animated part of the crea- 

 tion to set no bounds to its delight. Such a day was the 4th of June, 

 • and we felt most sensibly the change from the gloomy atmosphere 

 . of the open sea, to the cheerful glow that overhung the hills and 

 placid surface of Magdalena Bay. 



Although surrounded by beds of snow and glaciers, with the ther- 

 mometer scarcely above the freezing point, there was no sensation of 

 cold. The various amphibious animals, and myriads of birds which 

 . had resorted to the place, seemed to enjoy, in the highest degree, 

 the transition thus occasioned by a few bright hours of sunshine. 

 From an early hour in the morning, until the period of rest re- 

 turned, the shores around us reverberated with the merry cry of the 

 little auk, willocks, divers, coniiorants, gulls, and other aquatic 

 birds ; and wherever we went, groups of walruses, basking in the 

 sun, mingled their playful roar with the husky bark of the seal. 



There was certainly no harmony in this strange din ; but it was 

 at the least gratifying to know that it arose I'rom a demonstration 

 of happy feelings. It vvas a pleasure of the same character as that 

 which must have been experienced by every traveller, who, on some 



