HILL CLIMBING. 
309 
ever came to Spitzbergen, broke his neck in attempting 
to climb a hill in Prince Charles’s Foreland. Barentz 
very nearly lost several of his men under similar cir¬ 
cumstances, and when Scoresby succeeded in making 
the ascent of another hill near Horn Sound, it was 
owing to his having taken the precaution of marking 
each upward step in chalk, that he was ever able to 
get down again. The prospect from the summit—the 
approach to which was by a ridge so narrow, that he 
sat astride upon its edge—seems amply to have repaid 
the exertion; and I do not think I can give you a better 
idea of the general effect of Spitzbergen scenery, than by 
quoting his striking description of the panorama he 
beheld. 
“ The prospect was most extensive and grand. A 
“ fine sheltered bay was seen to the east of us, an arm 
“ of the same on the north-east, and the sea whose 
“ glassy surface was unruffled by a breeze, formed an 
“ immense expanse on the west; the icebergs rearing 
“ their proud crests almost to the tops of mountains 
“ between which they were lodged, and defying the 
“ power of the solar beams, were scattered in various 
“ directions about the sea-coast and in the adjoining 
