252 ACCOUNT OF THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



given in by liieutenant Parry,) as having nine un- 

 equal sides, as being aground in 61 fathoms, and as 

 measuring 4169 yards (paces) long, 3689 yards broad, 

 and 51 feet high. The weight of this ice-berg, ta- 

 ken at somewhat smaller dimensions, was estimated 

 by an officer of the Alexander, at 1,292,397,673 

 tons. This amount, however, is greater than the 

 truth, the cubical inch of ice being taken at 240 

 grains, whereas it does not exceed 231.5 grains. 



Captain Cook, when exploring the regions [be- 

 yond the antarctic circle, met with ice-bergs on 

 every course, in great abundance, as well as of vast 

 size ; many, according to Forster, were one or two 

 miles in extent, and upwards of 100 feet above the 

 water. On the 26th of December 1773, they count- 

 ed 186 ice-bergs from the mast-head, whereof none 

 were less than the hull of a ship. 



The most abundant source of floating ice-bergs 

 known in the arctic regions, is Baffin's Bay. From 

 this remarkable sea, they constantly make their way 

 towards the south, down Davis' Strait, and are scat- 

 tered abroad in the Atlantic to an amazing extent. 

 The banks of Newfoundland are occasionally crowd- 

 ed with these wonderful productions of the Frigid 

 Zone ; beyond wliich they are sometimes conveyed, 

 by the operation of the southerly under- current, as 

 low as latitude 40° north, and even lower, a dis- 

 tance of at least 2000 miles from the place of their 

 origin. 



