S90 
Analysis of Mr Scorcsbfs Account 
Undoubtedly the explanations which Captain Scoresby has 
given of these phenomena, must, to a certain extent, be regarded 
as hypotheses more or less ingenious ; and the publication of 
these cannot be of the same utility as that of the facts on which 
they are founded. Yet the minute research which it was ne- 
cessary to make into all those facts ; the examination of their 
mutual connection, and their subsequent arrangement, for the 
purpose of obtaining results applicable to practice, will prove a 
valuable assistance to those who prosecute similar researches, 
and especially contribute to perfect what may, in some measure, 
be called the Science of Observation, It is in this last point of 
view that the work of Captain Scoresby is particularly com- 
mendable. One may perceive, through the whole of his work, 
a man attached to his duty, who, to fulfil it w^ell, has his atten- 
tion unremittingly turned to all that passes around him ; and 
who, endowed with a just perception, has accustomed himself 
to reason on what he observes. 
The 6th and last chapter of the first volume, contains an Es- 
say on the Zoology of the Polar Regions, embracing a descrip- 
tion of the animals ascertained to live on the land, or in the icy 
sea which surrounds it. This last subject completes the de- 
scription of the Arctic Regions. It has no relation to naviga- 
tion, but is so naturally allied to the wdiale-fishery, the siibject 
of the second volume, that the author could not avoid intro- 
ducing it in the general plan of his w'ork : but it is kept within 
due bounds. His descriptions become more enlarged when he 
treats of the different species of whales, of fish, or of other ani- 
mals which may become objects of the fishery ; of other quad- 
rupeds he only treats when a description of them can excite 
curiosity^ The details he gives of birds are most intimately 
connected with the principal design of the work ; for he regards 
them as indicating, by their assembling at particular spots, the 
places where the whales retire, in order to avoid the crowds of 
fishers, who harass them on all sides. He points out the species 
which afford the most certain indications on this head. 
The second volume, as w^e have already said, is wholly occu- 
pied with the Whale-fishery in the Arctic Regions, or rather in 
the seas partially covered with ice ; for it is this last circumstance 
which gives a peculiar character to the fishery in the vicinity of 
