S86 
Analysis (^’ Mr Scoreshy''s Account 
In the commencement of the first part, the author examines 
tlie probability of a communication between the Atlantic and 
Pacific Oceans, both in a north-west and a north-east direction ; 
and then gives a historical summary of all the attempts which 
have been hitherto made to discover it. It would, without 
doubt, be equally imprudent to assert or to deny its existence, 
and the author leaves it undecided. He contents himself with 
a very just remark, which is indeed a consequence immediately 
deduced from the experience of those navigators who have at- 
tempted this passage : — that, should it exist, there would be a 
necessity to winter among the ice in making the discovery, and 
very probably in afterwards making a practical use of it. This 
opinion is founded on very solid reasoning, which is supported 
by facts drawn from the voyages, of which he has given a com- 
pendium. 
The most remarkable character of this work is, that the 
reasoning in every step is supported by experiments deduced 
from ordinary practice, or from the most delicate and abstruse 
physical investigations. No general idea is discussed, of which 
the conclusion is not supported by some fact observed by the 
author, or communicated to him by persons worthy of credit. 
Whenever he treats of scientific subjects, he cites the names 
best known and most celebrated in England, — a remark which 
is equally applicable to the other parts of his work. 
General remarks on the Polar Seas and Regions form the 
subject of the first chapter ; the second contains a detailed hy- 
drographic description of all that is known respecting the coasts 
of Spitzbergen and Jan Mayen’s Island, as also of some smal- 
ler islands not far distant. 
All these descriptions have the advantage of being, as much 
as was in the author’s power, historical and geographical, and 
are in general either drawn from the best sources of informa- 
tion, or from his own observations. Although the second chap- 
ter is chiefly composed from very widely circulated voyages, it is 
gratifying to find knowledge of so great importance to naviga- 
tion collected into one view with such order and precision. 
The subject of the 3d, 4th, and 5th chapters is peculiarly 
Captain Scoresby’s own, and we should search in vain to dis- 
cover any other work in which it is treated with such connec- 
