10-i THE OCEAN. 



degrees of the Pole. The coast is generally lofty 

 and precipitous, and is visible in clear weather ai a 

 great distance, presenting the peculiar features of 

 Arctic scenery in great perfection. The rocks rise 

 ill bold and naked grandeur, their summits shooting 

 into innumerable peaks and ridges, and needles, of 

 fantastic forms, reminding the beholder of the domes 

 and spires of a vast city. Most of these are of dark 

 colours, standing out in bold relief against the sky ; 

 but their appearance is rendered highly picturesque 

 by the vivid contrasts continually presented by the 

 broad patches of unsullied snow capping their sum- 

 mits, or resting on the ledges and terraces into which 

 their surface is broken, as well as by the glistening 

 accumulations of ice which lill the valleys nearly 

 to the level of the mountain tops. In approaching 

 the coast in summer, the view is often concealed by 

 the dense fogs so prevalent in that season : suddenly 

 the mist disperses, and these broad contrasts, shown 

 out in startling distinctness beneath a cloudless sun, 

 seem like the sudden creation of a magician's wand. 

 The well-defined outline and sharp edge of the hues 

 of the picturesque scenery, render it perfectly dis- 

 tinct at a distance at which, in a more southern 

 clime, land would present but a dim and shadowy 

 haze. The objects described may often be clearly 

 seen and well distinguished at the distance of forty 

 miles ; and if, after sailing towards the land for four. 

 or five hours before a smart breeze, the atmosphere 

 should become slightly charged with mist, the scene 

 inight be apparently even more distant than at first. 

 Thus a phenomenon, reported by one of the earlier 



