66 GREENLAND VOYAG 17. 
justify adventure. It is not yet ascertained, whe¬ 
ther its stations on the eastern coast of Greenland 
he always accessible, or whether the recently ob¬ 
served separation of the body of ice on the face of 
it, be merely an accidental and occasional circum¬ 
stance. Until within four or five years of the pre¬ 
sent, it was a prevailing opinion among the fishers, 
tliat this land was inaccessible, on account of the 
compact and dangerous qualities of the ice,—no 
ship having been known to approach within sight 
of it, but such as were beset, and involuntarily 
carried thither. And as the greatest destruction 
among the shipping, and the most calamitous 
events, respecting the sufferings of the crews and 
the loss of life, that have been ever known in the 
Greenland fishery, have occurred, when vessels 
have been forced by the ice, in which they were 
beset, upon this coast,—the whalers were always 
in the habit of contemplating an adventure on 
this station as extremely hazardous, and alto¬ 
gether unwarrantable. Now, however, these ap¬ 
prehensions have almost entirely subsided, and a 
considerable confidence prevails, both as to the 
coast being annually accessible, and as to its being 
regularly resorted to by the whales that have re¬ 
treated from the more northern stations; but be¬ 
fore it can be ascertained whether this confidence 
be well founded, several more years’ experience 
will be requisite. 
