3'12 
GREENLAND .VOYAGE. 
The gales we experienced were always accom¬ 
panied by a heavy fall of rain, hail, snow, or sleet; 
but most commonly rain. The quantity which fell 
exceeded, in a given interval of two or three days, 
any thing I ever before witnessed, either at sea 
or on shore. This circumstance is to be attributed 
to the action of partial winds. A stream of air 
proceeding entirely from the north, could not de¬ 
posit any thing like the quantity of moisture that 
occurred, when pnssing towards a warmer climate. 
Most probably the wind aloft was from the south¬ 
ward, at the time of the northerly storms, by which 
we were visited; for an admixture of warm air, 
saturated with moisture from the south, with cold 
air from the north, could alone explain, on any 
reasonable principle, the vast and continued fall 
of rain that we experienced. 
Though the sea shallows considerably on ap¬ 
proaching the West Land, it seems to be in 
general very free from dangers. We saw some 
few rocks above water; but did not fall in with 
any that could be considered dangerous to ship¬ 
ping. 
the dangerous nature of these regions at this season. This 
communication being, I conceive,ofiinportancetothe whale- 
,•fisher, is, in substance, inserted in the Appendix, No. V. 
