VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 55 



The mountains of Spitzbergen have been observ- 

 ed, by voyagers, to decline in altitude towards the 

 east ; neither are the eastern mountains so black, 

 steep, or naked, as those more to the west. This 

 curious phenomenon is considered by some natura- 

 lists as a general law of nature. The mountains 

 here are totally composed of one entire and single 

 mass of granite. The only fissures discovered in 

 their vast extent, are formed by the intensity of the 

 frost rending them assunder. They burst with a 

 noise like thunder, and often huge fragments are 

 torn from the summits, and rolled with great im- 

 petuosity to the base. 



The glaciers are the most astonishing of ail 

 the natural phenomena of this counti y. I 



only convey a faint representation of their iize 

 and magnificence, to say, that they far surpassed 

 those of Switzerland. Travellers who have been 

 in both countries, declare there is no comparison 

 between them. Perhaps the most proper method 

 to form a just conception of their magnitude, is 

 by considering the size of the icebergs, which, as 

 previously stated, are fragments of them. One of 

 these masses, according to Phipps, has been found 

 grounded in twenty-four fathoms water, while 

 it towered above the surface to the height of 

 fifty feet. Almost every valley can boast of 



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