THE ARCTIC SEAS. 117 
coast is generally lofty and precipitous, and is visible 
in clear weather at a great distance, presenting the 
peculiar features of Arctic scenery in great perfec- 
tion. The rocks rise in 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 un- 
sullied snow capping their summits, or resting on 
the ledges and terraces into which their surface is 
broken, as well as by the glistening accumulations 
of ice, which fill 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 
might be apparently even more distant than at first. 
Thus a phenomenon, reported by one of the earlier 
