168 
VOYAGE TO GREENLAND. 
usual near this island, we were prevented from 
going on shore, which I anxiously desired, with 
the view of collecting subjects of natural history, 
specimens of mineralogy and of volcanic produc- 
tions ; and also to have some excellent shooting. 
Many birds indeed were seen from the ship, parti- 
cularly the Alca Arctica, or Greenland parrot, one 
of which I succeeded in shooting, as numbers of 
them flew round the vessel, the representation of 
which is herewith given. 
Beeringberg exhibited its towering head conti- 
nually during the brightness of the day, until it 
gradually sank into the ocean when we had left 
the island upwards of eighty miles behind us. Cap- 
tain Scoresby availed himself of the clearness of the 
weather to survey the south and west sides of the 
island, and took some observations highly im- 
portant to navigation ; for he discovered an error in 
the charts, the situation of Jan Mayne being laid 
down upwards of two degrees of longitude, and 
from ten to fifteen miles of^ latitude, from its real 
position. He also took the altitude of its stupen- 
