116 ACCOUNT OF THE AllCTIC llEGIONS. 



passages *." This place, called also the North 

 Harbour, is easily known, from the remarkable ap- 

 pearance of Cloven Cliff, the north-easternmost 

 land seen from the anchorage. Being an insulated 

 cliff, joining the other land only by a long narrow- 

 isthmus, it preserves in all situations nearly the 

 same form ; and being neai'ly perpendicular, is 

 never disguised with snow. Besides this roadstead, 

 is Cook's Hole, about two miles to the eastward, 

 the Norways, a league and a quarter towards the 

 south-east, and Smeerenberg, one of the best shel- 

 tered harbours on this coast, about eleven miles to- 

 wards the soutb-west. The latter, formed between 

 Amsterdam and other islands, and the main, affords 

 good anchorage in thirteen fathoms, sandy bottom, 

 not far from the shore f. The outlets are by the 

 north, by the west, and by the south-west, three 

 good channels : the western one, however, is a lit- 

 tle obstructed with rocks. 



On the north and east sides of Spitzbergen, are 

 several harbours, some of them very safe and com- 

 modious ; but they are not so often free from ice as 

 those to the westward, and therefore have seldom 

 been visited. 



-f Phipp's Voyage towards the North Pole, p. 44. 

 y Idem, p. GS. 



