50 VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN. 



inches long; the iron part is better than two 

 feet long, and is extremely sharp. On each side 

 of the point is placed a barb, or wither, diverging 

 from the harpoon at an angle of nearly forty de- 

 grees, to prevent the instrument from flinching 

 and losing its hold. There are also several lan- 

 ces, or spears, about six feet long, the points of 

 which are about two inches broad : by these the 

 whales are killed after being struck with the har- 

 poons. 



A boat's crew consists of a harpooner, a boat- 

 steerer, a line-manager, and three or four men, 

 more or less, according to the size of the boat. 



2d, Cast off, and made for a large iceberg, 

 one mile to the east, to which we made fast, and 

 were soon after closed in by the ice. This ice- 

 berg was twenty feet high, and mostly composed 

 of fresh water ice. We had not been above two 

 hours in this situation before a strong gale clear- 

 ed away the ice, and we discovered South Cape 

 in Spitzbergen, bearing north-east, distant thirty 

 miles. 



May 3d, Sailed for Charles Island on the west 

 coast of Spitzbergen, the most southern part of 

 which is in latitude 78°. 



We were much impeded in our course by ice, 

 which, according to the Greenland phrase, was 



