105 
NORTH 
tions, lie was directed to make the heft of his way into 
Baffin's Bay, and ufe his belt endeavours to explore the 
weftern fhores thereof, to examine if there be any consi¬ 
derable rivers or inlets affording the probability of a paf- 
fage into the Pacific, and, if fo, to attempt fuch a paflfage ; 
but it would apppear from his journal, that no regard 
whatever was paid to thofe inftrudtions, and no attempts 
made to pufh into Baffin’s Bay. 
One circumftance of this voyage is worthy to be re¬ 
marked for the contraft it affords with that of Pickerfgill; 
by avoiding the flioals and iflands near the weftern coafl of 
Greenland, Young reached the latitude of 72. 42. N. fo 
early as the 8th of June; whereas Pickerfgill got only to 
68. 10. fo late as the 5th of Auguft. 
The king of Denmark, at the recommendation of bifhop 
Egede, (fon of the miffionary, Hans Egede, who had taken 
him, when a child, into Greenland,) fitted out an expe¬ 
dition in the year 1786, for the purpofe of re-difcovering 
the eaftern coaft of Greenland; the command of which 
was given to Capt. Lowenorn. The bifhop was perfuaded 
that the long-loft colony on this coaft would be found to 
esdft, or to have exifted, in about the fame parallel of la¬ 
titude with the central part of the weftern coaft of Ice¬ 
land; that the diftance between them was only about i'8o 
aiiles ; and that midWay the two coafts, or at leaft the 
fummits of the mountains, are vifible at the fame time ; 
that this coaft of Greenland (which is fuppofed to be the 
part anciently inhabited by the Danes) would be found 
to extend to the diftance of 300 miles to the fouth-weft 
or fouth-fouth-weft of Herjolfsnes, and to continue in 
that diredtion as far as Cape Farewell. Thefe opinions, 
however, of the bifhop, have fince been attempted to be 
fet afide in a treatife of Mr. Eggers, who has endeavoured 
to prove that the part of Greenland anciently difcovered, 
and by fome fuppofed to be loft, is in faff the diftridt now 
called Julianjhaab, which is afc this moment inhabited by 
the Danes ; and that this part has received the name of 
Eajl Greenland only becaufe it happens to be fituated a 
little to the enft of that part which is commonly called 
the weftern coaft. 
The Danifli government, however, was of a different 
opinion. The only queftion with it was, whether Fro- 
biflier had actually parted through a ftrait which, croffing 
from the eaftern to the weftern coaft, cut off and infulated 
a large portion of Greenland; and Mr. Lowenorn, before 
his departure, wrote a memoir to prove the fallacy of 
fuch a fuppofition, which in fadt had been proved long 
before by the old Englifh navigators. Bifhop Egede was 
of opinion that the moft favourable feafon for commencing 
this voyage would be in the beginning of the fpring, be¬ 
fore the maffes of ice fhould come down from the north 
and fix themfelves to the coaft; but Lowenorn preferred 
making the attempt to reach the coaft in the middle of 
fummer, or even later, and to depart from the weft coaft 
of Iceland for that purpofe, as the ice would then have 
floated down farther to the fouth, and have left the coaft 
of Greenland open. 
The fhip Greo Ernft Scheinmelmann, of 246 tons bur¬ 
den, ufually employed on the whale-fifhery, was engaged 
by government for this expedition. There was alfo at¬ 
tached to her a fmall vefl’el of 60 tons, which was placed 
under the command of lieutenant Egede, the fon of the 
bifhop. Thefe veflfels were to pafs the winter in Iceland, 
in order to refume their refearch the following fummer, 
in cafe they fhould not fucceed the firft year. Mr. Lowe¬ 
norn was ordered at the fame time to examine carefully 
the geographical fituation of the Shetland I ties, and to 
furvey the coafts of Iceland, in order to improve the hy¬ 
drography of that illand. He was alfo to furvey and af- 
cei'tain the fituation of a fmall volcanic ifland which had 
appeared in the year 1783, but which, according to the 
reports of feveral navigators, had difappeared the follow¬ 
ing year. 
The two veflels fet fail from Copenhagen on the 2d of 
May, 1786, and arrived at Iceland on the 16th of the 
POLE. 
fame month. Here Mr. Lowenorn was unable to obtain 
any corredl information refpedting Old Greenland; nor 
could he afcertain the fadt, that the coafts of Iceland and 
Greenland might be feen at the fame time. On the 20th of 
June the two fhips left Scolmenfham, and on the 29th a phe¬ 
nomenon was obferved during the day-time, which they 
concluded to be the aurora borealis. If it was the aurora 
borealis, it is probably the firft time it has been obferved 
by daylight, and when the fun was above the horizon. 
On the 30th of June, they perceived the Snoefell Jokul in 
the eaft, at the diftance of about ninety miles. At the 
fame time they thought they perceived in the weftern 
uarter fome white mountains covered with fnow, and 
iredted their courfe towards them. On the ift of July 
the atmofphere was cloudy, and at mid-day they imagined 
that they faw mountainous land ; they were in latitude 
65. 13. 30. and longitude 31. 16. W. of Paris. The fog 
was thick, but every now and then it cleared away, and 
they fancied they faw land ; but, on the air becoming 
quite clear, they beheld nothing but maffes of ice and 
fome floating ice-bergs. They entered a bay of ice on 
the 2d of July ; but inftead of land, they faw nothing 
but an immenfe and impenetrable extent of ice, in which 
rofe enormous mountains of ice. The vapour and fog 
occafioned by the great extent of ice prevented them from 
feeing the coaft, even if near it; but, if the land he»e 
had been mountainous, they muft have perceived its fum¬ 
mits at a great diftance acrofs the ice, as from time to 
time the fog cleared away. The extent of ice, which 
hitherto had lain in the direction of north-eaft and fouth- 
weft, in this bay took a turn to the weft and a little to 
the north, allowing the fhips to hold a wefterly courfe. 
On the 2d of July, at mid-day, they were at leaft 160 
miles from Sncefell Jokul, in latitude 65. 6. longitude 32. 
3. W. of Paris ; and, according to the old charts, they 
ought then to be very near Old Greenland. In going 
wefterly, they conftantly obferved towards the north a cer¬ 
tain glimmering, (ice-blink,) which is an indication of 
an uninterrupted track of ice, and which generally fhows 
itfelf when at the diftance of ten or twelve miles, and fre¬ 
quently at a much greater diftance ; but it is never ob¬ 
ferved where there are only patches of floating ice. The 
clouds aflumed at times the appearance of land. 
On the 3d of July, at mid-day, when at a diftance of 
270 miles from Sncefell Jokul, being in latitude 65. it. 
longitude 35. 8. while furrounded with ice, they firft dif¬ 
covered land. The variation of the compafs was here 
45. to. This land was compofed of very high mountains 
towards the north, appearing for two days always in the 
fame pofition and of the fame form ; fo that they were 
convinced of their not being clouds. They conjedtured 
this land to be at the diftance of fifty miles from them, 
or 290 miles nearly from Sncefell Jokul. The ice was 
every-where fo firmly united and of fuch vaft extent, that 
they had not the leaft hope of breaking through it; and, 
even if they could have entered it, their temerity would 
probably have been repaid by their ftiips being cruflied in 
pieces between the mountains of ice. Every moment 
they became more and more furrounded with ice-bergs ; 
and in this fituation they difcovered an enormous log of 
wood, which had been hewn fquare, and fo large that it 
could not be taken on-board until it had been cut in two 
with the faw. Several fea-gulls were perched upon this 
log. The moft remarkable circumftance was that of its 
being mahogany, which is generally too heavy to float in 
the water; but the wood was fo worm-eaten, even to the 
very heart, that Mr. Lowenorn conjedtured its fpecific 
gravity probably might have been diminifhed. They faw 
no feals, nor any other fea-anitnak, in this part of the 
ocean, excepting a few gulls. 
As the great mafs of ice was obferved to be drifting 
towards the fouth-weft, they determined not to penetrate 
farther to the weftward ; for, fhould they even difcover 
fome inlet in the ice through which they might pafs, they 
would at moft have been able to enter fome bay beyond 
the 
