HYDROGRAPHrCAL SURVEY. 189 



is usually very deep, which also verifies the rule ; 

 but, in some particular cases, even at the bases of 

 some of the highest mountains, those in Charles' 

 Island, for instance, the sea is shallow and rocky 

 for several miles from the shore. 



Within sight of Spitzbergen, on the west side, 

 we sometimes find instances of whales, after being 

 harpooned, " running" perpendicularly downward, 

 and, on their return to the surface, giving indu- 

 bitable evidence of their having been at the bot- 

 tom ; and thus, by the quantity of line drawn out 

 of the whale-boats, affording a good measure of the 

 depth of the sea. In latitude 76° 53', longitude 

 5° 56' E. the depth was thus found to be 3600 feet ; 

 and, within a few leagues of the same place, 4000 

 feet. But mid-way between Spitzbergen and West 

 Greenland, in latitude 75°, 76° or 77°, and in other 

 situations farther to the northward, the sea has 

 never yet been fathomed. I have attempted to 

 sound in latitude 76^ 16', longitude 9° E. with 230 

 fathoms of line ; in latitude 79° 4', longitude 5° 35' E. 

 with 670 fathoms ; in latitude 78° 2', longitude 

 10' W. with 721 fathoms ; in latitude 75° 50', 

 longitude 5° 50' W. with 1058 fathoms ; and in la- 

 titude 76° 30', longitude 4° 48' W, with 1200 fa- 

 thoms of line, without finding the bottom. 



In sounding at great depths, where the pressure 

 of the water becomes equal to, perhaps, several hun- 

 dreds weight on every square inch of surface, some 



