73 
from the westernmost part of Mauritius, 
or Amsterdam Island, called Hackluyt’s 
Headland, to the extreme east point of 
North-Eastland, comprising from 9° to 
nearly 24° east longitude. 
The inhospitable nature of this frozen 
climate has prevented Spitzbergen from 
being properly explored. The best charts 
that have been published are extremely 
defective, and its larger divisions are but 
imperfectly defined. It could nowise in¬ 
terest the reader to peruse a dry cata¬ 
logue of headlands or straits ; a wretched 
sameness is the property of every part of 
this barren country, and a few general 
observations may suffice to exhaust all 
that is interesting in its appearance. 
The general aspect of this gloomy and 
sterile country, affords a scene truly pic¬ 
turesque and romantic. The shores are 
rugged, bold, and terrific, being in many 
places formed by lofty, black, inaccessible 
rocks, some of which taper to exceed- 
