184 
TRAVELS 
three Engli fn miles, thirty of which you travel on the ice without 
touching on land. This paffage over the frozen fea is, doubtlefs, 
the mofl Lingular and ffcriking fpedlacle that a traveller from the 
South can behold. I laid my account with having a journey 
more dull and unvaried than furprifmg or dangerous. I expedled 
to travel forty-three miles without fight of land over a vaft and 
uniform plain, and that every fucceffive mile w T ould be in exadl 
unifon and monotonous correfpondence with thofe I had already 
travelled ; but my aftonifhment was greatly increafed in propor¬ 
tion as we advanced from our ftarting-poft. The fea, at firft 
fmooth and even, became more and more rugged and unequal. 
It affumed, as we proceeded, an undulating appearance, refem- 
bling the waves by which it had been agitated. At length we 
met with maffes of ice heaped one upon the other, and Lome of 
them feeming as if they were fufpended in the air, while others 
were raifed in the form of pyramids. On the whole they ex¬ 
hibited a picture of the wildefl and mod favage confufion, that 
furprifed the eye by the novelty of its appearance. It was an 
immenfe chaos of icy ruins, prefented to view under every pof- 
fible form, and embellifhed by fuperb ftaladlites of a blue green 
colour. 
Amidft this chaos, it was not without difficulty and trouble that 
our horfes and fledges were able to find and purfue their way. It 
was neceffary to make frequent windings, and fometimes to return 
in a contrary direction, following that of a frozen wave, in order to 
avoid a colle&ion of icy mountains that lay before us. In fpite 
of 
