IN THE YEAR 1613. 
43 
the land is neither so elevated, nor are the hills so sharp-pointed, as on 
the western coast. The central part of the chain of mountains in 
Charles’s Island is a very interesting part of the coast. These moun¬ 
tains — which are, perhaps, the highest land adjoining the sea, which is 
to be met with — take their rise at the water’s edge ; and by a con¬ 
tinued ascent of an angle at first of about 30°, and increasing to 45°, 
each comes to a point, with the elevation of about six-sevenths of an 
English mile. The points formed by two or three of them are so fine, 
that the imagination is at a loss to conceive of a place on which an 
adventurer, attempting the hazardous exploit of climbing one of the 
summits, might rest. 
“ Some of the mountains of Spitsbergen are well-proportioned, four¬ 
sided pyramids; others form angular chains resembling the roof of a 
house, which recede from the shore in parallel ridges, until they dwin¬ 
dle into obscurity in the distant perspective. Some exhibit the exact 
resemblance of art, but in a style of grandeur exceeding the famed 
Pyramids of the East, or even the more wonderful Tower of Babel. 
“ The climate of Spitzbergen is, no doubt, more disagreeable to hu¬ 
man feeling than that of any other country yet discovered. Extending 
to within ten degrees of the Pole, it is generally intensely cold; and 
even in the three warmest months, the temperature not averaging 
more than 34|°, it is then subject to a cold occasionally of three, four, 
or more degrees below the freezing point. It has the advantage, how¬ 
ever, of being visited by the sun for an uninterrupted period of four 
months in each year. But its wdnter is proportionally desolate; the 
sun in the northern parts of the country remaining perpetually below 
the horizon from about the 22d of October to about the 22d of 
February.” 
