212 ACCOUNT OF THE ARCTIC EEGIONS. 



towards the iiortli, mitil it meets with another 

 braiu'li passing to the northward of these islands ; 

 these two branches^ then reuniting, proceed a little 

 to the westward ; and afterwards, being deflected to- 

 wards the south by the coast of Greenland, proceed 

 regularly towards the south-west, setting with a much 

 greater velocity near the Greenland shore than in the 

 vicinity of Spitzbcrgen, Pursuing its course along 

 the east side of Greenland, the current passes to the 

 westward of Iceland, down to Cape Farewell. Ha- 

 ving doubled this prcmontory, according to the opi- 

 nion of O. Fabricius *, it is urged northward ; but 

 meeting with another current setting down the 

 strait of Davis, before it reaches Disco Island, it is 

 probably deflected to the westward, when the accu- 

 mulation of waters on the western side of the strait, 

 escapes to the southward, along the American 

 shore. 



The general route pursued by this current, is 

 proved by the movements of the floating ice, which, 

 between Spitz])ergen and Greenland, being of the 

 field or drift kind, follows, in a great measure, the 

 motion of the superficial water. 



Some illuf^tiations of the preceding remarks shall 

 be brought forward. 



Four Greenland whalers, the Leviathan, Daunt- 

 less, Fortitude and Lion, were wrecked in the Arc- 



* From a MS. translation of Fabricius, " Nye Samling af 

 det Kongelige Danske Videnskabers Selskabs Skrivter," — 

 commur.icated to me by Sir Joseph Banks. 



