PRINCE CHARLES'S ISLAND. 65 



ice. We shortly rejoined our commodore, who 

 had escaped the danger to which we had been 

 exposed by being at a greater distance from 

 the pack when the wind failed. 



The ships now steered to the westward to 

 reconnoitre the state of the ice in that direc- 

 tion, and, in longitude 4° 30' E., fell in with se- 

 veral whale-ships, by which we were informed that 

 the ice was quite compact to the westward, and 

 that fifteen vessels were beset in it. This un- 

 promising intelligence, coupled with the apparent 

 tending of the ice to the southward, satisfied 

 Captain Buchan that our best chance of success 

 was by keeping near the land of Spitzbergen, 

 and he in consequence once more directed the 

 course of the vessels to the eastward. We 

 made Prince Charles' Island on the 10th of June, 

 and got sight of those remarkable hills which 

 are known by the name of " The three Crowns f 

 but why this number has been specified was not 

 quite clear to us, five peaks being distinctly 

 visible. Nor was it more evident why the 

 term "Crown" had been applied, as they bore 

 no resemblance whatever to that emblem of 

 royalty. They seemed to consist of a range 

 of outliers traversed by horizontal conformable 

 strata, with deep valleys between ; as though 

 they had originally formed one range of hills, or 



F 



