310 
Mr Jameson's Narrat ive of a 
Holding a NE. course, we, in Lat. 50° 4', descried Cape Fare- 
well, distant from us about twenty-five miles. It is very high 
and abrupt, and faced with numerous islands of the same gene- 
ral appearance. 
On the 24th, having the wind from the NE., we reached 
across towards the opposite land ; and, on the 26th, in Long. 58° 
30', came up to that pack which stretches along the west shore 
of Davis' Straits, usually termed the South-West Ice. Ha- 
ving sailed along the edge of this u Pack," from Lat. 62° to Lat. 
63° 20', without seeing any whale fish, and having spoke a ship 
who had met with no better encouragement, we, on the 30th in- 
stant, shaped our course for the northward, intending to go up 
the Straits. 
The SW. ice affords but few objects to engage the atten- 
tion of the naturalist. Whales were formerly very numerous, 
and of a size much superior to those met with farther north. 
From some unaccountable cause, however, they are now become 
comparatively rare, and but few ships choose to remain at the 
SW. ice during the fishing season. Seals are sometimes seen 
upon the floating ice, and, when practicable, are taken by the 
whalers, for the sake of their oil and skins. The birds were not 
numerous. Besides the Fulmar (Procellaria glacialis), and the 
Kittiwake ( Larus tridactylus ), which, however, we observed 
during almost the whole passage, the Glaucous Gull ( Larus 
glaucus) and the Snowbird, {Larus Candidas or eburneus), were 
now, for the first time, seen. Marrots ( Colymbus troile ), seem 
to be more plentiful here than in the higher latitudes. 
In pursuance of our intention to go up the Straits, we steered 
an easterly course, and on the 2d May, in Lat. 65° 54', we 
again came in sight of the mainland,. It consists of a range of 
very high mountains grouped together, the summits of most of 
which are conical and pointed, while others are nearly perpen- 
dicular and terminating in rugged cliffs. For about a degree 
farther north, the coast presents nearly the same aspect. At 
Riskol in Lat. 68°, where we arrived on the 6th, it is much 
less mountainous and abrupt. 
The sea about Riskol, at the commencement of the fishing 
seasons, is often much frequented by whales and morses. The 
former, when the ice begins to disappear, quit Riskol and re- 
