308 Northern Expedition. 
closer to, are found to be islands. The main land is one conti- 
nued ridge of smooth snow, which appears like a cloud. I sup- 
pose the ground has not been uncovered since the Flood. The 
islands in general are clear of snow.—There are no inhabitants 
to the north of 72. 30. on this coast. We had some of the na- 
tives on board from 68. 30. 704. and 72i—they are all the same 
people, the women dressed in the same manner as the men, only 
their hair tied on the crown of their head, and a small sort of 
peak on the fore and after part of their jackets. We have been 
so anxious to get on the more interesting part of our voyage, that 
little attention has been paid to the natives here. The most 
astonishing things to be seen here are the ice-bergs—their size 
an dnumber surpass fancy. From the65th deg. to this, the sea is 
literally covered with bergs, and we see no end to them: where 
they are generated is yet unknown to us; it is not in 74. or to 
the southward on this coast. That they are formed on the land 
is certain, from the many stones of great size which are seen : 
some of them are covered with sand and dirt, others have regu- 
lar strata of sand and stones running through them horizontally. 
They are of all forms—generally they have a high cleft on one 
side, and shelve down to the water on the other: some exceed 
200 feet perpendicular all round.—Loose or stream ice consists 
of pieces about the size of an acre and under, about a foot above 
the surface: when it is blown together by strong winds, one piece 
js edged up on the top of another, it is then called packed ice, or 
‘apack. Flaws are large pieces of field ice. The ice generally 
drifts with the wind, though a current must set southward, or 
how would the bergs find their way south? We have not been able 
to detect any current. The flood tide sets here from southward. 
At Waygat we had a rise and fall of seven feet at spring tides. 
Where the ice-bergs drift into shallow water (that is to say 150 
fathoms or under), they ground, and obstruct the passage of the 
smaller ice, and form barriers which it is difficult to pass. In 68. 
there is a reef, in 704. another, in 74. another, generally found 
full of ice by the fishers; we have found it the same. In stand- 
ing a few leagues from land we find 85 fathoms here, closer on 
150, 90, and soon. The water runs in small streams from the 
bergs, so we have no difficulty in procuring it. I am now more 
sanguine of getting a long way north and west than I was at the 
first of the voyage. I am of opinicn that the ice will clear away, 
and that very soon. The small ice has been for some time con- 
suming fast, and will be all dissolved by the end of this month, 
even without wind to break it. 
< July 18.—Yesterday an opening in the ice énabled us to get 
to 74. 43. when we were again stopped—the ice here much hea- 
vier, and in fields. We are at present fast to a field, in thick ri 
whic 
