ENCHANTED COAST. 211 



on the 18th July, when the sky was clear, and a 

 tremulous and perfectly transparent vapour was par- 

 ticularly sensible and profuse. At nine o'clock in the 

 morning, when the phenomenon was first seen, the ther- 

 mometer stood at 42 Fahr., but in the preceding evening 

 it must have been greatly lower, as the sea was in many 

 places covered with a considerable pellicle of new ice, a 

 circumstance which in the very warmest time of the year 

 must be considered as quite extraordinary, especially 

 when it is known that 10 farther to the north no freezing 

 of the sea at this season had ever before been observed. 

 Having approached on this occasion so near the unex- 

 plored shore of Greenland that the land appeared distinct 

 and bold, Mr. Scoresby was anxious to obtain a drawing 

 of it, but on making the attempt he found that the outline 

 was constantly changing, and he was induced to examine 

 the coast with a telescope, and to sketch the various 

 appearances which presented themselves. These are 

 shown, without any regard to their proper order, in 

 Fig. 34, which we shall describe in Mr. Scoresby's own 

 words : " The general telescopic appearance of the coast 

 was that of an extensive ancient city abounding with the 

 ruins of castles, obelisks, churches and monuments, with 

 other large and conspicuous buildings. Some of the hills 

 seemed to be surmounted by turrets, battlements, spires, 

 and pinnacles; while others, subjected to one or two 

 reflections, exhibited large masses of rock, apparently 



I suspended in the air, at a considerable elevation above 

 the actual termination of the mountains to which they 

 referred. The whole exhibition was a grand phantas- 

 magoria. Scarcely was any particular portion sketched 

 before it changed its appearance, and assumed the form of 

 an object totally different. It was perhaps alternately a 

 castle, a cathedral, or an obelisk ; then expanding hori- 

 zontally, and coalescing with the adjoining hills, united 



