INTRODUCTION. 
XVU 
will prove of some consequence to our trade id 
this quarter, and that they will afford such geo¬ 
graphical and hydrographical information, as may 
be the means of advancing the prosperity, and 
increasing the safety, of those engaged in this ar¬ 
duous business. 
Hitherto the situation of the East Coast of 
Greenland was so erroneously laid down, that 
the charts of this country were a snare rather 
than a safeguard to the navigator. Thus, a ship 
taking her departure from the JV?st Land, un¬ 
der the supposition that its longitude was cor¬ 
rectly laid down, would make an error of perhaps 
twelve or fourteen degrees, which, in the event of 
storms and foggy weather, might be productive 
of fatal consequences. A much less error than 
this, indeed, would take a ship into the middle of 
the Northern Coast of Iceland, when the naviga¬ 
tor imagined himself to be in the fair way betwixt 
Iceland and Faroe. Owing to this cause, it pro¬ 
bably was, that a whaler, in the year 1821 , ran 
on shore on the north of Iceland; though, in this 
instance, being fortunately moderate weather, the - 
ship was got afloat again. 
