G R E 



land he jiickcd up a piece of drift wood, wliich was found 

 to be fir, and not worm-eaten ; and upon Handing clofe in 

 with the land, the coall appeared to be neither habitable 

 nor acccfTible ; it was formed by high, barren, black rocks, 

 without the lead marks of veg^nation ; in many places bare 

 and pointed, in otiier parts covered with fnow, appearing 

 even above the clouds ; the vallies betwei.n tiie high hills 

 were filled v>ilh fnow or ice. " Thii profpeft," he fay6, in 

 his " Journal/' printed in 1774, " would have fuggelled 

 the idea of perpetual winter^ had not the mildnefs of the 

 weather, the fmooth water, bright fun-fltine, and conllant 

 day-light, given a chearfulnefs and novelty to the whole of 

 this (Inking and romantic fcene." The current on this 

 coaft was found, both bv the common and Bouguer's log, 

 to run north half a knot an hour. The height of one moun- 

 tain, above the level of the fea, was found by meafurement 

 with the megameter, to be 15,035 feet, but by M. de Luc's 

 calculation from obfcrvations with the barometer it was 

 found to be 158S.;. 



Among the harbours in which captain Phipps anchored, 

 we may mention a fmall bay to the fonthivard of Magdalena 

 Hook and liamburgher s bay ; the former in N. lat. jg' 

 34', the fame as Fotherby obferved it to be in 1614: the 

 high-water in this bay full and change at half an hour pad 

 one, or with a S.S.W. moon, which agrees exaelly with 

 Baffin's obfervation in 1 61 3, the flood coming from the 

 fouthward. Another anchoring place was Vogel Sang, N. 

 lat. 79 50'. E. long. 19 2 30''; the north eailernmoft 

 point being the Clokfcn cliff, 79 53'. E. long. 9 59 30", 

 a bare rock fo called from tne refembLnce of its top to a 

 cloven hoof, which appearance it has always exhibited, 

 having been fo named by fome of the firil Dutch iiavigators 

 who frequented th-fe feas. It is alio nearly perpendicular, 

 fo that 11 is never difguiled by l.iow, and on thole accounts 

 it is one of the moll remarkable points on the coaft. The 

 fouthernmoll land is an !,igh bluff point, called by the Dutch 

 Vogel Sang. This found, though open to the northward, 

 is not liable to any inconvenience from that circumftance, 

 the main body of ice lying fo near as to prevent ai.y great 

 fea ; nor are (hips in any d.uiger from the loofe ice fetting 

 in, as this road communicates with fcveral others formed by 

 different iflar.ds, between all which there are lafe pafTagcS. 

 To all the fv^unds and harbours formed by this knot of illands 

 the old Englifn navigators had given the general name of 

 Fair Haven, of which Fotherby took a plat m 1614. In this 

 filuation Hackluyt's Head-la>id was found to be in N. lat. 

 79'^ 47'. E. loUjT. 9 11' 50''. The tide rofe about four 

 feet, and flowed at h;df a:i hour after one, full and change. 

 The harbour of Smeerenberg, diltant about 1 1 miles, N. 

 lat. 79" 44'. E. long g'^ 50' 45", has good anchorage in 13 

 fathom, laiidy bottom, not far from the iiiore ; and it is 

 \yell fhell-.ed from all winds. The i'land clofe to the place 

 where our navigators lay is called Aniflerdam ifland, the 

 wellerumolt point of which isKacklnyt's Head-land; here t!ie 

 Dutch formerly ufed to boil their whale-oil, and the remains 

 of forae conveniences erecled by them for that purpole are 

 Itili vihble. They once attempted to make an eftabliihment, 

 and left lonie people to winter here, who all pori;hed. 

 Nevcrtiielefs, as they fcem to have died not through the 

 jntenfity of the cold, but in confequence of bei-.ig attacked by 

 the fcurvy, and as others, both Engl.fli and Ruffian failors, 

 have wintered here, a colony might be fettled in this conn- 

 try, if fuch an eilabli.hment were likely to anfwtr any good 

 purpofe. The Dutch (hips (lill refort to this place for the 

 latter feafon of the whale fiihery. The (lone fonud in this 

 country was chiefly a kind of marble, which diffolved eaiily 

 in the marine acid. But our navigators perceived no marks 



G R E 



of minerals •f any kind, nor the lead appearance of prefent, 

 or remains of former volcanos. Neither did they meet with 

 infeds or any fpecies of reptiles ; not even the common earth- 

 worm. They faw no fprings, or rivers; the water, wliichwas 

 found in great plenty, being altogether produced by the 

 melting of tiic fnow from the mountains. During their (lay 

 in ihefe latitudes, they had no thunder or hghtning. The 

 (ley was in genf-ral loaded with hard white clouds ; fo tliat 

 neither the lun nor the horiion was wholly free from them 

 even in the cleared weather. They could always perceive 

 when they approached the ice, long before they faw it, by 

 a light appearance near the horizon, which the pilots called 

 the '• blink of the ice." (See Bx.i.nk.) One of the mod 

 remarkable phenomena which this country exliibiled was the 

 " iccb;"rg." (S:e Iceberg ) Of the animals and plants 

 of Spitzbergen, captain Phipps has given an account in the 

 appendix to his Journal. The animab are the ardtic walrus, 

 the common ftal, the aiftic fox, the polar bear, the rein- 

 deer, the common whale, the fin tilh ; and the birds the 

 eider-duck, the pufhn, the alca alle, the fulmar, the co- 

 lynibus grylle and troile, th.e northern diver, the larus riffa,. 

 arClic gull, and larus eburneus, the greater tern, the greater 

 brambling, the fca-fnail, the coal-fifli, the prawn, the 

 cancer-boreas, or lingular fpecies of crab, and cancer nujax, 

 not before defcribcd, and alfo cancer ampulla, and cancer 

 puiex ; feveral fpecies of vermes, and diell-fiih. Among the 

 plants are a fmall fpecies of agroflis, feveral fpecies of faxi- 

 fraga, of bryum, of cochlearia, and of fichen. 



Greenland, a town of America, in Rockingham county. 

 New Hampfhire, near the fea, five miles foutherly from 

 Portfmouth, incorporated in 17 1 3, and containing 548 in- 

 habitants. 



Green'LA\d Fi/lerv. See IViah Fisherv. 



Gkeexland Company. A joint dock of 40,00c/. was 

 by ftatiite to be raifed by fubfcribers, who were incorpo- 

 rated for fourteen years from the fird of Cftober 1693, 

 and the company to ufe the trade of catching whales, &c. 

 into and from Greenland, and the Greenland feas ; thev 

 may make bye-Iav.s for government, and of the perfon's 

 em.ployed in their (hips, &c. (Stat. 4 and 5 W. III. cap. 

 17.) This company was farther cncoiu-agtd by parliament 

 in 1696; but partly by unfkilful management, and partly 

 by real lofRs, it was under a necefiity of entirely breaking 

 up, before the expiration of the term afiigned to it, ending 

 in 1707. But any perlon who will adventure to Greenland 

 for whalc-fiftiing, (hall have all privileges granted to the 

 Greenland company, by I Anne, cap. 16. and thus the 

 trade was again laid open. Any fubJfCls may import whale- 

 fins, oil, &c. of fifh caught in the Greenland feas, without 

 paying any culloms, S:c. llat. 10 Geo. I. cap. 16. And 

 (hips employed in the Greenland lilhery are to he of fuch 

 burden, provided with boats, fo many men, filhing-lincs, 

 harping-irons, &c. and be licenfed to proceed; and on 

 their return fliall be paid 20s. per ton bounty, for whale- 

 tina. Sec. imported. 6 Geo. II. cap. 33. See Wbale- 



FlSHERV. 



GREENLAW, in G.ography, a town of Scotland, 

 which, though the county-town of Berwickfhirc, is an incou- 

 fiderable place, pleafantly (ituatcd in a plain, bathed by the 

 Blackader or Blackaddi-r. The acclivities of the ucigh. 

 bouring eminences are tolerably ciJtivatcd. In its vicinity, 

 about midway between Greenlaw and Keifo, en a rifing 

 ground, is Henie cadle, which commands a view of the 

 greated part of the Merfe and Roxburghlhire, and was cele- 

 brated during the contentions on the border. It was a noted 

 place of defence, often befieged by the Enghlh, and denio- 



lilhed 



