MOFFEI^ ISLAND. 149 



Though Spitzbergen is probably rich in minerals, 

 yet the examination of it has been so partial, and 

 indeed trifling, that nothing of any value, except- 

 ing marble and coal, has yet been met with *. The 

 former is found in some parts of King's Bay, of 

 i-eal beauty ; and the latter, of a tolerable quality, 

 near the same place. The coal is so easily procur- 

 ed, that many of the Dutch fishers, a few years 

 ago, were in the habit of laying in a stock of this 

 useful article, for fuel, on the passage homeward. 

 Captain Jacob Broerties, an intelligent whale-fisher 

 of Amsterdam, informed me that he had in his pos- 

 session, a slab table of great beauty, manufactured 

 out of a block of Spitzbergen marble, which he 

 himself procured. 



What has already been advanced concerning the 

 appearances and productions of Spitzbergen, applies 

 in general to the islands adjacent. A few remarks, 

 however, on the peculiarities which have been no- 

 ticed, may not be superfluous. 



Moffen Island, a small low island lying on the 

 north side of Spitzbergen, in latitude 80° 1', longi- 

 tude 1Q° 43' E, was visited and described by Cap- 

 tain Phipps, who intimates that none of the old 

 navigators have taken any notice of it, though it is 

 remarkably diflPerent from any thing to be seen on 

 the west coast. This, considering their usual accu- 



* A list, by my valued friend Professor Jameson, of a few 

 specimens of the rocks occurring in and about King's Bay, 

 is included in Appendi.v No. VI. 



