SPITZBERGEN. — MOUNTAINS. 99 



the name of the Three Croxvns. They rest on 

 the top of the ordinary movmtains, each commen- 

 cing with a square table or horizontal stratum of 

 rock, on the top of which is another of similar form 

 and height, but of a smaller area ; this is continued 

 by a third, a fourth, and so on, each succeeding 

 stratum being less than the next below it, until it 

 forms a pyramid of steps, almost as regular, to ap- 

 pearance, as if worked by art. I do not know that 

 the Three Crowns hate ever been visited, or what 

 may be their actual form ; but the appearance I 

 have attempted to describe, is that which they 

 exhibit at the distance of from five to ten leagues. 

 In Plate 3. is a representation of these interest- 

 ing objects, seen at the distance of at least thirty 

 miles. 



Many of the mountains of Spitzbergen are inac- 

 cessible. The steepness of the ascent, and the loose- 

 Bess of the rocks, with the numerous lodgments of 

 ice in the clefts or sides of the cliffs, constitute, in 

 many places, insurmountable obstacles. Some hills, 

 indeed, may be climbed with tolerable safety, but 

 generally the attempt is hazardous. Martens no- 

 tices the necessity of marking every step with chalk, 

 as the adventurer climbs the rugged mountain, 

 otherwise he will not know how to get down. In 

 advancing, he observes, it seems easy enough to be 

 done, but in descending, it is found so difficult and 



G 2 



