Dr Latta on IcH-Bergs. ^59 
in every direction with rents, increasing in number and magni- 
tude as we approached the middle. These measured from a 
few inches to several yards in width, and in general terminated 
sooner or later in each other. The ice being rough, we could, 
without danger, approach the edge of these chasms, which pre- 
sent a terrific aspect. Their blue edges gradually became 
darker, till they reached a depth where the most wandering 
sun-beam cannot reach; and here and there the gurgling of 
a subglacial rill, added to the romantic nature of the scene. 
Captain Scoresby, speaking of these rents, says, ‘‘ The sur- 
face was very uneven, being furrowed and cracked all over ; 
this roughness appeared to be occasioned by the melting of the 
snow, some streams of water being seen running over the sur- 
face ; others, having worn away the superficial ice, could be 
still heard pursuing their course through subglacial chan- 
nels to the front of the ice-berg, where, in transparent streams 
or small cascades, tliey fell into the sea. In some places, chasms 
of several yards in width were seen, in others they were only a 
few inches or feet across.” The following considerations incline 
me to doubt the accuracy of this explanation. 
Though this was the warmest season of the year, the 
thermometer varying between 36° and 45® of Fahrenheit, I 
found not so much water on its surface as to quench my into- 
lerable thirst, being obliged from time to time to have recourse 
to a bolus of ice or snow to satisfy this unpleasant sensation. 
2dl^, If such rents were produced by water, it must have re- 
quired a much greater inundation than such a limited space 
among the mountains on the north-west coast of Spitzbergen 
could have afforded, where ice and snow melt very tardily. 
3dl^, These rents extend up to, and, in all probability, beyond 
the snow-line, undiminished in dimensions, where the tempe- 
rature never falls below the freezing point. Whence was the 
water furnished to produce rents here ? 
Stilly ^ If they had been formed by water, would they not 
have followed the declivity, and, like a river’s bed, have had 
their width and depth increased with their course Far other- 
wise, however, is the case, for they run in every possible direc- 
tion, some wider in the centre, and gradually closing towards 
the extremities. I heard indeed the noise of water in a few. 
