^ Br Latla'^s Obserxi^aiions on the 



Icebergs, wlrieh lie a little to the north of the channel which separates Fair- 

 Foreliand from tlie main, in the 79th degree of north latitude. There, excepting 

 whfere the snow' had been wreathed, the beach was entirely bare. My chief 

 commission being to collect specimens of the various animals which might 

 come in ray way ; and meeting with few on the shore, but such as had been 

 our constant attendants at sea ; I was induced, notwithstanding the dense 

 mist which enveloped the interior, to follow the course of a valley leading in- 

 land, and had not gone a great way ere the snow became general. And when 

 the mist lightened for a moment, it disclosed one vast solitary wild of monoton- 

 oua whiteness, and, as it bore not the smallest traces of any living thing, I 

 retraced my steps. Such appearances were certainly indicative of a low in- 

 land temperature, since the snow, even on the lower grounds, remained un- 

 dissolved. 



I next directed my steps towards one of the chief icebergs, and prompted by 

 curiosity, having ordered the boat to meet me at the other side, I resolved to 

 traverse this stupendous mass on foot. During this very hazardous excur- 

 sion, I had an opportunity of witnessing such phenomena as went to prove, 

 not only the lowness of the inland temperature, and the little elevation of 

 the circle of freezing in Spitzbergen, but also the occurrence of a wanner air 

 over the beach and the neighbouring ocean. 



The seaward extremity of the iceberg terminated in a perpendicular pre- 

 cipice, estimated at 200 feet high, which rested on the strand, and was wash- 

 ed by the breakers. From thence it extended inland along the valley, which, 

 to a certain altitude, it completely filled. The surface rose with a gentle 

 slope of from 10° to 20°. On the seaward extremity, a thawing temperature, 

 exerting its influence, had not only dissolved all the snow, but also a portion 

 of the ice, and thus rendered the slope more abrupt. The interior extremity, 

 along with the adjoining mountains, was buried under a common covering of 

 never melting snow. The mass was cleft throughout, with many a yawning 

 gulph, through which the tinkling of the subglacial rill, the produce of the 

 melting snow and ice was heard far beneath, pursuing its course to the sea. 

 These rills, indicating the action of a thawing temperature, occurred towards 

 the lower extremity of the berg ; it being probable that the upland country is 

 subjected to perpetual frost. 



The recollection of these fects is impressed on my mind by an event never to 

 be forgotten. The rents, with which the iceberg was every where traversed, de- 

 scend, perhaps, to its very bottom. Their width, which sometimes exceeded a 

 fathom or two, was greatest towards the lower extremity ; and being im- 

 passible, I was forced to take a circuitous route along the higher regions of 

 the iceberg, where the rents could be leaped across, although sometimes 

 not without danger. I had not ascended far, ere patches of snow became com- 

 mon, but so long as it was partial, the position of the rent beneath was gene- 

 rally well defined, there being a marked difference of hue between the snow 

 which filled them, and the layer which was spread over the deeper coloured 

 firm ice. These crevices were not only widest towards the seaward extre- 

 mity of the mass, but they enlarged all along its centre, so that before I had 

 reached midway across, I was obliged to deviate still farther, and found no 



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