345 
East Coast of West Greenland. 
Having now reached a fishing latitude , preparations were made 
for the fishery. The number of boats was seven. In each of 
them were coiled six whale-lines, of 120 fathoms. They were 
also fitted up with all the apparatus of harpoons, lances, oars, 
axes, flags, &c. as usual in their equipment. On the 27th April, 
at 5 r. m., the ship passed the 80° North Lat., being within ten 
miles of Hackluyt’s Headland, in Spitzbergen, a latitude which 
was reached without experiencing any frost. In the evening, 
the wind coming off shore, the sky immediately became clear, and 
displayed a large extent of the northern coast of Spitzbergen, of 
which the following description is given. 
“ This coast is much lower land than the western, and more uni- 
formly covered with snow, few ridges, or even points of naked land, 
being visible. The western coast, on the other hand, presents al- 
ternate streaks of black and white. The former colour, consisting 
of ridges of naked rock, which appear black, contrasted with the 
brilliant whiteness of the snow, frequently runs from the summit 
directly towards the base of the mountain, but oftener becomes con- 
cealed beneath a bed of snow and ice, as it approaches the water’s 
edge : the latter colour, the white, consisting of snow and ice, fills 
all the ravines, dells, fissures, and valleys, and reflects the light of 
the sun with such intensity, that the tracts of snow-clad land exhi- 
bit, as near as possible, the colour and splendour of the moon at the 
full. The ice and rocks being thus highly illuminated, and strong- 
ly contrasted, — being constructed on a majestic scale, and rising with 
peculiar steepness out of the sea, — give a character to the Spitzber- 
gen scenery highly striking, interesting, and indeed magnificent. 
“ As soon as we passed to the northward of Cloven Cliff, the 
north-western land of Spitzbergen, the whole of the northern coast 
was seen through a highly and unequally refractive medium. In 
consequence of this, the cliffs were reared to an uncommon altitude, 
and presented the beautiful basaltic character, which it is a general 
property of this remarkable state of the atmosphere to produce. 
The apparent columns were all vertical, or nearly so, and, when 
slightly waved, maintained their parallelism, the curvatures of the 
adjoining columns corresponding with each other.” P. 26 , 27- 
In the passage from Liverpool to this station, only the usual 
birds of the latitudes passed, which are enumerated, were met 
with *. They now continued to approach the Pole, in a sea clear 
of ice to the NW. and W., until one in the morning of Sunday 
the 28th, when, in Latitude 80° 30', they were stopped by the 
main northern ice. In the afternoon of this day it fell calm. 
* Procellaria pelagica , near Harris ; Pelecanus bass anus off Faroe ; Proctlla - 
ria glacialis, from Harris to Greenland ; Larus rissa , parasiticus , glaucus , eburneus , 
were frequent : on approaching Spitzbergen., A lea a lie, Coly mbus grylle , C. troile , 
Sterna hirundo, Embcriza nivalis , &lc. 
