LXXXVIil 
Harsouns 
TypDE AND SEA. 
Soin ! 
PLANTS. 
SPO TIT AZ ABER UG LN 
eataraGs of melted fnow of the fhort fummer, or to the pools in the middle -of 
the ficlds of ice, to which the mariners are indebted for frefh water. 
The harbours on the weft fide are frequent ; penetrate deep into the ifland of 
Spitzbergen; and are the only channels by which the flight knowlege of the interior 
parts is attained. North Harbour is a fcene of pifturefque horror, bounded by 
black cragey Alps, ftreaked with {now ; the narrow entrance divided by an ifland ; 
and at feafons affording a land-locked fhelter to multitudes of fhips. 
The tide at the Vogel Sang flows only four feet, and the flood appears to come 
from the fouth. The depth of the fea is very irregular; near the fhore it is 
generally fhallow: off Low Jfland only from ten to twenty fathoms; yet fud- 
denly deepens to a hundred and feventeen: off Cloven Cliff from fourteen to 
twenty-eight, and deepens to two hundred. The fhallows are ufually on rock; 
the great depths on foft mud: the former I look on as fubmarine iflands ; but, 
from the fmall number of fifh, the bottoms muft be univerfally barren. 
The grit worn from the mountains by the power of the winds, or attrition of ca- 
taraéts of melted fnow, is the only thing which refembles foil, and is the bed for 
the few vegetables found here. This indeed is affifted by the putrefied Jichens of the 
rocks, and the dung of birds, brought down by the fame means. 
Even here Flora deigns to make a fhort vifit, and fcatter over the bafes of the 
hillsa fcanty ftock. Her efforts never rife beyond a few humble herbs, which fhoot, 
flower, and feed, in the fhort warmth of ‘fune and Fuly; then wither into reft till 
the fucceeding year.—Let me here weave a flender garland from the lap of the 
goddefs, of fuch, and perhaps all, which fhe hath beftowed on a country fo repug~ 
nant to her bounty. Let the falubrious Scurvy Grafs, the refource of diftempered 
feamen, be remarked as providentially moft abundant in the compofition. 
Let me firft mention its only tree, the Salix Herbacea, or Dwarf Willow, de- 
fcribed by Marten, p. 65, Phips, 202, which feldom exceeds two inches in 
height, yet hasa juft title to the name. The plants are, a new fpecies of Grafs, 
now named Agroffis Algida: Tillea Aquatica, Sp, Pl. 186. Fl. Suec. 156: Funcus 
Campeftris, F\. Sc. i. 186: Sibbaldia Procumbens? F\, Lap. 111.3; Marten’s Spitz. 
tab. H. fig. b: Polygonum Viviparum, F\. Lap. 152; Marten’s Spitz. tab. J. fig. a: 
Saxifraga Oppofitafolia, F\. Lap. 179,222: Sax. Cernua, Sp. Pl. i. 5773 Fl. Lap. 
172: Sax. Rivularis, Sp. Pl. 577; Fl. Lap. 174: Sax. Ca/pitofa, Sp. Pl. 578; 
FI. Suec. 376: Sedum Annuum? Sp. Pl, 620; Marten’s Spitz. tab. F. fig. c: 
Ceraftium Alpinum, Sp. Pl. 628; Fl. Lap. 192: Ranunculus Sulphureus, Phips 
Voy. 202; Mart. Spitz. 58 : R. Lapponicus, Fl. Lap. 461, 503: R. Nivalis? 2325 
Mart. Spitz. tab. F. fiz. a: Cochlearia Danica, Sp. Pl. g03; Fl. Suec. 578, 579: 
Cachi, 
