54 
VOYAGE TO GREENLAND. 
south of Cape Farewell, taking thence a north-east 
direction to Iceland, and then by the side of West 
Greenland, stretching north-north-east to the north 
of Jan Mayen, and continuing that course till about 
the seventy-fourth degree of latitude, which it enters 
near the sixth degree of east longitude, and from 
whence it takes a northern direction to the eightieth 
degree of latitude, leaving an uninterrupted and 
open passage to the celebrated fishing station, on 
the western side of Spitzbergen. The character 
of the present season, is as follows ; at the fifteenth 
degree of west longitude, from Iceland, the ice 
took a north-east direction, forming a deep bight 
in the seventy-sixth degree of latitude, in the me- 
ridian of Greenwich, and here joining the eastern 
ice, which probably extended itself to Nova Zem- 
bla, if not to Lapland ; it consequently shut up the 
usual passage to the northward, leaving only a space 
of open sea, on the west side of Spitzbergen, ex- 
tending round Hakluyt's head-land, terminating 
round point Look-out, and varying in width a few 
degrees of longitude. This information was ob- 
tained from the masters of some few ships, that 
were able to penetrate through the ice, by taking 
a lower degree of latitude than we had attempted. 
We kept pursuing our course to the eastward, 
through very heavy ice, which was singularly attrac- 
tive, by the extraordinary variety of forms that it 
exhibited, not unworthy the attention of those fond 
of architectural studies ; having spaces hollowed 
out, as if formed for the passage of currents, or, as 
