144 THE OCEAN. 



those who thus first broke in upon his loneliness c . 

 for twelve years had that ill-fated bark navigated, 

 through sun and storm, the Polar Sea; and, perhaps, 

 unconsciously solving the problem that had so long 

 baffled human skill and daring, had even crossed the 

 Pole itself. 



But it is time that we turn from the consideration 

 of inanimate nature and atmospheric phenomena, to ' 

 inquire what are the living productions that cheer 

 the loneliness of the Arctic mariner. Of the vegeta- 

 tion of these regions we know little: the dreary 

 level shores of many of the isles are marshy, and 

 densely clothed with various mosses, which, though 

 frozen in winter, revive in the transient summer. 

 The rocks, too, are covered with lichens of various 

 colours ; and a few dwarf flowering plants just rise 

 above the thin soil. Nothing like a tree varies the 

 scene, but large trunks of trees are brought, by the 

 currents, from distant regions, and washed upon the 

 sea beach. Some of the Fuci which are common 

 with us are found also on these shores, and doubt- 

 less many other species which are unknown to us. 



The most notorious of the inhabitants of these 

 dreary seas are the mighty and gigantic Whales. 

 " There is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to 

 play therein." It is in pursuit of these immense 

 creatures, and especially the Greenland species, the 

 "right Whale" of the seamen (Balcena mysticetus), 

 that many ships, well-manned and fitted out at grent 

 expense, proceed every year from England, Holland, 

 France, and other nations, into the Arctic zone. This 

 valuable animal has produced to Britain 700,000/. in 



