POLAR-ICE. — ANNUAL SITUATION. 283 



the weather Wcas thick, and our position a little un- 

 certain ; but, in the last, the weather was clear, and 

 my observations, both for latitude and longitude, 

 were good. The east side of West Greenland, a 

 coast never, I believe, approached, excepting by ships 

 beset in the ice, since Hudson's voyage in 1 607, was 

 at this time seen by myself from the mast-head ; 

 but the commencement of a fog put a stop to our 

 farther advance, otherwise the ice appeared suffi- 

 ciently open to have permitted us to reach its shores. 

 We were then a distance of 80 or 90 miles within 

 the exterior limits of the ice. In this season, from 

 the too great extent of the sea open to the whales, 

 and the wide dispersion of them, the fishery 

 was in general very bad. In the month of June 

 the northern land-ice joined the western ice, in the 

 79th degree of latitude, and extended in a line to 

 the south-eastward, as far as Point-Look-out. At 

 the point of junction of the land-ice, and main wes- 

 tern ice, a successful but partial fishery occurred. 



An open season, a good deal similar to the last 

 described, again occurred in 1818. The edge of 

 the ice, however, lay farther to the eastward, be- 

 tween latitude 76** and 80°, and farther to the west- 

 ward, between 73° and 76°. On the 1st of July, 

 we reached the longitude of 9° W. in latitude 

 74° 54', without entering the ice. Indeed the edge 

 of the ice, from latitude 74° to 77^^, was, about this 

 period, firm and impervious. The fishery, on the 



