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Ice. the vessels cannot advance beyond the 75th or 76th de- 

 T" 1 ^ gree; but in open seasons, they have an uninterrupted 

 navigation along the western coast of Spitzbergen to 

 Hackluyt's Headland, the north-western angle. An open 

 channel extends in such seasons from 20 to 50 leagues 

 in breadth, to the latitude of 79 or 80, gradually ap- 

 proaching the coast, till it effects a junction with its 

 northern extremity by a curvilinear head. It is only in 

 this open part, that they can proceed sufficiently far 

 to the north to find the whales. These animals, of 

 stupendous size, but timid in disposition, prefer these 

 places, as affording the most secure retreats, enabling 

 them to dive beneath the ice out of the reach of danger, 

 and to return to the open part to respire. It is in the 

 76th and 79th degrees of latitude that they occur in 

 greatest number. At the southern part of Spitzbergen, 

 there is, at the bottom of the bay called the whale fish- 

 er's bight, a barrier of compact drift ice, mixed with 

 bay ice, stretching from the fixed ice on the west to 

 that on the east, and from 20 to 40 leagues in breadth. 

 This always exists in the early part even of open sea- 

 sons, and to find their way across this barrier, is with ma- 

 riners one principal object of anxiety and exertion. For 

 this purpose, every advantage is taken of those openings 

 in the ice, which are expressively called veins of water. 

 When the wind is fair, they set all possible sail in order 

 to accomplish it speedily, and yet find it necessary to be 

 on their guard against the dangers which surround them 

 from pieces of floating ice, dangers which of course are 

 augmented in proportion to the velocity of a ship's mo- 

 tion. These difficulties occur in the month of April ; but 

 by the end of June the ice is dispersed, and a safe return 

 afforded, which could scarcely be obtained if it conti- 

 nued equally prevalent, as the fogs, which obstruct the 

 view at the end of the reason, would prevent them from 

 seeing their way through similar obstructions. In 

 sailing to the north, it is of importance to anticipate the 

 separation of the ice, in order to catch the best season 

 for the fishery. 



Great and unexpected changes often take place in 

 the manner in which the drift ice is collected. It 

 frequently happens, that a ship is completely beset, 

 and unable to move in one direction or another, 

 and next day, without apparent cause, the ice is com- 

 pletely dispersed, and an open sea presented on every 

 side. A tendency to separation always takes place 

 in the drift ice during a calm. The changes to which 

 the local situation of a ship is on such occasions sub- 

 jected, are not less surprising. Two ships surround- 

 ed with close ice a few furlongs apart, have sometimes 

 been in a few days separated to a distance of several 

 leagues, though no Apparent change took place in the 

 continuity of the pack. Bay ice sometimes proves be- 

 neficial to the whaler, by imbedding the ship, and avert- 

 ing that danger which arises from the unequal shock 

 produced by the brunt of the heavy ice. But it is in 

 other respects extremely troublesome, as it is often the 

 means of besetment, and thus the primary cause of the 

 greatest calamities. A sheet of it a few inches in thick- 

 ness, is sufficient to render a ship immoveable. If, un- 

 der these circumstances, it is too strong to be broken 

 by a boat, recourse is had to the laborious operation of 

 sawing it. 



The general tendency of the loose ice in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Spitzbergen, is to drift to the south-west, 

 towards Iceland and Cape Farewell in West Greenland. 

 When we consider the obstacles encountered in the na- 

 vigation of the northern seas, which are not more ex 



empt than others from stormy weather, and find that ice. 

 these fishing voyages are attended with so much aver- " Y~~ ' 

 age security, we have a striking exemplification of the 

 adventurous spirit of man, and of the power of art in sur- 

 mounting difficulties of the most threatening kind. A 

 combination of thick weather, a stormy gale of wind, and 

 a tempestuous sea, crowded with detached pieces of ice, 

 each of which is enveloped in a thick spray raised by 

 the dashing of the waves, presents one of the most ter-. 

 rific navigations that can be conceived. 



The phenomenon called the ice-blink is worthy of The ice 

 our attention. It is a lengthened stripe of lucid white- blink, 

 ness in the sky, bordering the visible horizon, which 

 often affords a beautiful and perfect map of the ice, 

 20 or 30 miles beyond the limit of direct vision. This 

 even serves to shew to the experienced observer the ex- 

 act kind of ice, whether field or packed, which occurs 

 in that direction. 



Mr Scoresby has projected a plan for surmounting plan for 

 the obstacles opposed by the ice in a visit to the north travelling 

 pole, by travelling over the surface of it in the manner ovel ! tllc P' 

 already mentioned as having been put in practice by lce ' 

 Markoff. This is detailed in an intelligent and inge- 

 nious paper, read before the Wernerian Society, which 

 contains much information relative to the polar ice, and 

 to which on this subject we have been principally in- 

 debted. Access to it previously to publication has been 

 most obligingly furnished to us by Professor Jameson, 

 the president of that Society. Of that plan it would be 

 out of place to give any particular account. It will 

 be inferred from the circumstances already mentioned 

 as having occurred to Markoff, that, though not im- 

 practicable, it must be extremely precarious, and that 

 those who engage in it, must be prepared for total 

 disappointment after the most Herculean exertions. 

 Yet it is worthy of remark that, if no obstruction arose 

 from the form of the surface of the ice, an expedition 

 undertaken from the northern coast of Spitzbergen to 

 the north pole and back, would exceed that actually 

 performed by Markoff only by 250 miles. Some im- 

 portant information, in reply to a series of queries di- 

 rected to the elucidation of this subject, is given by 

 Colonel Beaufoy, in Dr Thomson's Annals of Philoso- 

 phy for May 1817. It was obtained from Russian 

 fishermen who had wintered at Spitzbergen. The ten- 

 dency of the accounts give by them, is to impress us 

 with the difficulty of such an undertaking, both as ari- 

 sing from the great inequality of the surface of the ice, 

 in so far as could be inferred from observations made 

 in that part of the world, and from the storms of wind 

 and snow, which are represented as extremely frequent. 

 An answer to an additional query, however, is still 

 wanted : Is there any period of the winter at which a 

 few weeks of fair and calm weather may in general be 

 depended on ? Or are there any meteorological appear- 

 ances from which such a track of weather may be occa- 

 sionally predicted ? One interesting practical inquiry is 

 suggested by the degree of success obtained by Markoff. 

 Might not an attempt be made to explore by similar 

 means the site of the ancient colony of West Greenland ? 



Of the ice of the southern hemisphere we have less 

 particular accounts. But we know that ice extends to a 

 much greater distance from the south pole than from lce< 

 the north. The 80 of north latitude is almost annual- 

 ly accessible at one part to navigators, and has occa- 

 sionally been exceeded. The 73 or 74 may be at- 

 tained in the closest summers. But the tie plus ultra of 

 the antarctic hemisphere is the 72, i. e, 600 miles short 



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