[ "6 ] 



Others, which happen to have projected over the fea, may 

 have had their foundations fo fapped by the waves during a 



ftorm. . 



" Dear SiR r Thurfday r Feb. 28, 1776. 



In conformity with my promife of yefterday, I now fend you, as nearly 

 as I can recolledt, my brother's account (who hath refided four years on> 

 the Labradore coaft) of the formation of thofe great mafies of frozen 

 fnow, feen annually in very great numbers on the northern coafb of 

 Ameriia,. and by mariners ufually called ijlands of Ice. 



Along the coaft of Labradore, the fea, in winter,, is frozen to a great 

 diftance from the land [;how this ice is produced, will' appear, p. 145.]. 

 The north-weft; is the prevailing and eoldeft wind. The fnovv, carried 

 by this or any other wefterly winds over the cliffs of the coaft, falls 

 becalmed upon the ice at the foot of the faid cliffs, drifting up to the? 

 very tops of them, although many of them are not inferior to that of 

 Dover, or thofe about Lul worth. The current of the ftrong weftern winds,, 

 having palled thefe precipices, takes its courfe downwards into the un- 

 difturbed air below ; but it is not until it arrives at fome diftance from 

 the land, that it can be felt on the furface of the fea. Having the frozen 

 furface of the fea for a bafe, and the precipice for a perpendicular, an 

 hypothenufe is made by the defcending direction of the wind. The 

 inclofed triangle, be the cliffs ever fo high, will be filled with mow;, 

 becaufe the tops of the adjoining hills, being quite naked, are entirely 

 fwept clear of fnow by the violence of the ftorms, and what would other-- 

 wife have lain there is carried to the leeward of the hills, and under the 

 fhelter of the cliffs, where it is depofited in infinitely greater quantities, 

 than it would fall in without fuch a caufe.. The hypothenufe of fuch 

 triano-le is frequently of fuch a Hope as that a man may walk up or 

 dovvr? without difficulty.. By frequent thaws, and the occafional fall of 

 moifture interrupting the froft, during the firft parts of the winter, the 

 ihow will, in fome fmall degree, diffolve, by which means it only ac- 

 quires a oreater hardnefs when the frbft returns; and during the courfe 

 of that rigorous feafon it generally becomes a very compact body of 

 fnow-ice. In the fpring of the year the icy bafe gives way, and its 

 burden plunges into the fea, fometimes entire, fometimes in many frag- 

 ments. As the depth of water in many parts is forty, fifty, one hundred 

 fathoms, and upwards, clofe to the fhore, thefe bodies of ice, vaft as is- 

 their bulk, will frequently float without any diminution of their con- 

 tents, although the very large ones do often take the ground, and 

 fometimes are not fufficiently reduced by either the penetration of the 

 fea and the rain-water, or of a whole rummer's fun, to get at liberty 

 again before another winter. 



The 



