540 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1817. 



frost, and occasional thaws ; yet 

 here a berg is very rarely met 

 withj and the largest I ever 

 heard of, was not to be compared 

 with the productions of Baffin's 

 Bay. Icebergs, I therefore con- 

 clude, may have their principal 

 origin in the deep shelteied nar- 

 row bays, witli which Old or 

 West Greenland abounds. In 

 this respect it possesses a decided 

 advantage over Spitzbergen, since, 

 on the west side, the coast now 

 alone visited, few sheltered spots 

 occur ; at least those situations 

 the most protected from the in- 

 fluences of the wind and prevail- 

 ing currents, are found annually 

 to disembogue themselves of their 

 ice. On tlie eastern coast, if we 

 may rely on the charts, and credit 

 the affirmations of tlie Dutch, 

 many more suitable spots are 

 offered, wherein ice may be in- 

 creased for ages ; the most pre- 

 vailing winds, and the common 

 set of the current on these shores, 

 having no tendency to dislodge it, 

 imtil its enormous growth has 

 carried it beyond the limits of 

 security and undisturbed rest. And 

 from this Eastern coast it is, 

 (whiclt is favourable to the sup- 

 position,) that most of the ice- 

 bergs which have been seen, seem 

 to have drifted, — tl>ey being mostly 

 met with in the vicinity of Cheiry 

 Island, or between it and the 

 southern Cape of Spitzbergen, 

 where the course of the cmrent is 

 8Ui)posed to be from tlie north- 

 east towards the south-west. The 

 ice of bergs invariably jiroducing 

 pure fresh-water, when dissolved, 

 is no argtunent against the majo- 

 rity having their oiigin amidst 

 sea-water ; for fields, which, from 

 their flat surface, and large ex- 



tent, must have their rise on the 

 bosom of the ocean, commonly 

 afford a solution equally fresh. 



IceLeigs generated at a distance 

 from any known Land. 



Miiller relates a circumstance 

 which intimates, that some ice- 

 bergs have their origin in the wide 

 expanse of the ocean. He informs 

 us, tliat in the year 1714, one 

 Markoff, a Cossack, with some 

 other persons, were sent to ex- 

 plore the ocean north of Russia, 

 by order of the Russian govern- 

 ment ; but being foiled in his 

 object, by the immense aggrega- 

 tion of drift-ice, he conceived the 

 design of trying during the winter 

 season to travel over the then more 

 compac t ice. Accordingly, be pre- 

 pared several of the country 

 sledges, drawn by dogs; and, ac- 

 companied by eiglit persons, he 

 set out on the 15lh March (O. S.) 

 from the mouth of the Yani, on 

 the coast of Siberia, in latitude 

 7J ° N. and longitude about 132" E. 

 He proceeded for seven days north- 

 ward, until he reached the 77 th 

 or 78th degree of north latitude, 

 when liis progress was impeded 

 liy ice elevated into prodigious 

 mountains. From the top of 

 these, he could see nothing but 

 mountainous ice to the nortliward; 

 at the same time falling short of 

 provisions for his dogs, he returned 

 with difficulty : several of his 

 dogs died for want, and w'ere 

 given to the rest for their support. 

 On the 3d of April he reached the 

 Siberian shoi'e, after an absence 

 of nineteen days, during which he 

 travelled 800 miles. 



Here, therefore, is a fact of a 



continent, if we may so speak, of 



mountainous 



