APPROXIMATIONS TOWARDS THE POLES. 315 



noyance from an enemy, together with the unfa- 

 vourable situation of the ice, and the scarcity of 

 whales on its southern aspect, was the occasion of a 

 very general failure in the fishery. 



In no part of the Globe has any navigator been 

 able to approach within ten degrees of the Pole, 

 excepting on the west side of Spitzbergen. 



In Baffin's Bay, between the longitudes of 60° 

 and 70° west, ships have seldom advanced beyond the 

 74tli or 75th degree of latitude ; and only one in- 

 stance is upon record, wherein the latitude of 77^°, 

 near the extremity of the bay, has been reached. 



Through Behring's Strait, the adventurous Cook, 

 on the meridian of 161° or 162" W., (very near the 

 American shore), advanced to the latitude of 70° 44' 

 N., on the 18th of August 1778 ; and, on the 26th, 

 in longitude 176° W., they found the ice impervious 

 beyond the latitude of 69° 45' N. After the lament- 

 able death of this illustrious navigator. Captain 

 Clerke directed the proceedings ; and, on the 

 18th of July, in the following year, reached the la- 

 titude of 70° 33', being about four leagues short of 

 their former advance. 



Along the greater part of the extensive northern 

 face of the Kussian dominions, the polar ice closely 

 adheres during two-thirds of the year ; and, in the 

 height of summer, seldom recedes far from any part 

 of the coast comprised between Nova Zembla and 



