A.D. 



1773. 



324 HON. CAPTAIN PHIPPS. 



of Captain Phipps' operations from a blemish, 

 which has been cast upon them, evidently through 

 an oversight in affixing the letters to the im- 

 proper places on the chart. 



Nearly opposite the anchorage of the ships, 

 there was situated one of those stupendous for- 

 mations of ice for which the island of Spitzbergen 

 is remarkable. It occupied a deep valley, formed 

 between black rocky mountains ; its face was 

 about three hundred feet in height, and nearly 

 perpendicular, and towards its southern extremity 

 there was a stream of water gushing out of it. 

 Near its centre, according to the view given of it 

 by Mr. D'Auvergne, who accompanied Captain 

 Phipps, there was a deep cavern, which presented 

 nearly the same appearance as it did when visited 

 by Captain Buchan's expedition, forty-five years 

 afterwards. Large pieces of ice frequently broke 

 away from the face of this glacier during the time 

 the ships were at anchor, one of which grounded 

 in 144 feet water, and reached 50 feet above the 

 sea, making its whole length 194 feet. 



Upon the point of Amsterdam Island where the 

 pendulum was landed, Captain Phipps discovered 

 the remains of some conveniences for boiling 

 oil, and remarks, that the Dutch once attempted 

 to make an establishment at that place, and left 

 some people to winter there, all of whom perished. 



