79 
teamen. Here are also found several 
species of Lichen , (liverwort,) Saxifragia , 
Ranunculus , Bryum , and a few others, of 
little or no use in the medical world. 
On the west side of Spitzbergen, there 
are some safe harbours and roads for 
ships. The sea near the shore, is, for 
the most part, shallow, and the bottom 
rocky; but it often suddenly deepens to 
some hundred fathoms, where the lead 
sinks in soft mud, sometimes mixt with 
shells. In Smeerenberg, which has a 
sandy bottom, vessels may ride in thir¬ 
teen fathoms water not far from the 
shore, where they are sheltered from all 
winds. 
The tide, from the number of islands 
through which it passes, flows very irre¬ 
gularly, in some places only three and 
four feet. 
Mr Marten has affirmed, that the sun 
here, at midnight, appears with all the 
faintness of the moon ; but his assertion 
