POLAR ICE. — SITUATION OF, 263 



in Greenland was interrupted ; and although many 

 attempts have been made on the part of Denmark, 

 for the recovery of these colonies, and for ascertain- 

 ing the fate of the colonists, they have not yet suc- 

 ceeded in either. It appears, that a considerable 

 trade had been carried on between Iceland and 

 Greenland, for upwards of 400 years, (the coasts of 

 the latter being always accessible in the summer,) 

 when a suspension of the intercourse took place, in 

 consequence, it is imagined, of the polar ice ha- 

 ving suddenly extended its usual limits, launched 

 down by the land to Cape Farewell, and having so 

 completely barricadoed the whole of the eastern and 

 southern coasts, as to render them totally inaccessi- 

 ble. Whether this was the real and only cause of the 

 loss of the Greenland colonies to Denmark and Ice- 

 land ? Whether any of the inhabitants yet remain, 

 or the whole race is extinct ? Whether the change 

 in the position of the ice was partial or permanent? 

 And whether the coast where the settlements were 

 made, may not now be approached ? Are questions 

 at present unanswerable ; but which, in the main, 

 might, perhaps, be resolved by a single examination 

 of the coast. 



In various countries, changes of climate to a cer- 

 tain extent, have occurred, within the limits of his- 

 torical record ; these changes have been commonly 

 for the better, and have been considered as the ef- 

 fects of human industry, in draining marshes and 



