685 
ftrike on this hidden rock.—In this de- 
fperate fituation, the crew probably had 
recourfe to the long-boat, as the only 
means of faving at leaft a few of them: 
but while they were hoilting it overboard, 
it is likely that the fhip foundered, and 
every foul on board perifhed, as no intel- 
ligence was ever, received concerning 
them. ¢ 
During my expedition to Iceland in the 
year 1735, it became an object of my par- 
ticular attention, to make inquiries con- 
cerning this volcanic ifland, aithough no 
ene then fufpected that the above-men- 
tioned fhip of war had been wrecked at 
that place; for this is only a conclufion 
which I have drawn from what I learned 
during my inveftigation of the fubject. 
“When I arrived in Iceland, where, on 
account ef the obfervations for the maps, 
and of other affairs committed to my care, 
¥ found myfelf under the neceffity of re- 
maining with my fhip a confiderable time 
in Holmens-Hafen, and had at my difpofal 
a fmall fhip lying in that harbour; 1 or- 
dered Lieutenant, now Captain, Grove, 
to proceed ona eruife about the place where 
the volcanic ifland had been feen. He 
_ continued there feveral days, and while 
under fail frequently caft the founding- 
_Jead, but could find no bottom, witha line 
of hundred or more fathoms, and had given 
up all-hopes of making the defired difco- 
very. When he was on the point of re- 
turning, he, contrary to all expectation, 
obferved the waves breaking on a-rock, 
whofe top. was nearly on a level with the 
furface of the water: and now, no longer 
doubting that he had found what he had 
been in fearch of, he obferved its direétion 
and diftance from the nearei coaft of Ice- | 
fand. 
When the obje&® of my expedition was 
-accomplifhed, and I, at the conclufion of 
fummer, was preparing to commence my 
voyage homewards ; I determined before 
my departure to vifit this remarkable fpot 
‘ myfelf, and to corréét or confirm its true 
~ geographical fituation, as far as it can be 
aicertained by obfervations made at fea.— 
I therefore took my point of departure 
from fome fmall iflands or rocks; which 
lie in front of Cape Rezkiazos, the moft 
fouth-weft promontory of Iceland, and cf 
which the cutermoft, called the Grena- 
ders Cap, is 32 miles diftant from the 
promontory, in the direétion from fouth- 
weft to weft. The weather proving fa- 
yourable, [ was able to make a meridian 
' eofervation for determining the latitude, 
at likewife obfervations of the longitude 
by means of tune-keepers. Although 
« 
e 
Da Piwanie Ilend near Iceland. 
[O Gober, 
the timé-keepers I had with me were none — 
of the bef; yet, as I had failed on the 
fame day from an Icelandic harbour, where 
I had obferved the longitude the relative 
error could not be very confiderable: FE 
therefore determined the fituation of the 
rock called the Grenadier’s-Cap, to be in 
63° 4340. N, latitude, and. 25° 35' 40” 
longitude, weft from’ Paris. ‘This like- 
wife tolerably well coincides with the ob- 
fervations of the French navigators, Ver- 
dun, De la Crenne-Borda, and Pingré* ; 
the more, as I have good reafons for be- 
lieving, that, from want of a fufficient 
knowledge of the coafts of Ieeland, they 
made the latitude of Cape Reikiangs thfee 
rhinutes too far north; for they ftated it 
to be 63° 55’. And as, from the moft 
accurate obfervations, I found that the 
rock lies in a direction from fouth to weft, 
according to the true meridian, and juft 
four miles from the above-mentioned Gre- 
nodier’s-Cap, it follews, that the fitua- 
tion of this moft dangerous rock is in 
63° 32’ 45” of N. latitude, and 26, 2’ 50° 
Weft longitude from Paris. 
While I was continuing my courfé in 
order to get.a view of the rock, and Cap- 
tain Grove, who was on board with me, 
concluded from his former obfervations, 
that we muft be near it, as the coaft of 
Iceland had totally vanifhed from . our 
fight, and the outermoft of the above- 
named vifible rocks, which he fouth-weft 
from Iceland, was, notwithfanding the 
clearnefs of the weather, {carcely any lon- 
ger perceivable ; he faid, * Is it advifa- 
ble to fail fo dire€tly towards 1t?”’— 
** Yes, my friend,” was my anfwer; 
«¢ for, on whichever fide we furn, we 
fhall have as great a chance of ftriking 
upon it, as of efcaping the danger: it 1s 
like looking for a needle in a load of hay.” 
—As we were thus converiing about it, 
the people on the watch called out.—The 
attention and eyes of all were directed to- 
wards it, and we faw directly a-head of 
us the waves breaking againft a rock. 
We inflantly tacked abour, and, at the 
fame time, hove the lead, which had been 
kept in readinefs. We found the depth 
to be 26 fathoms; immediately after, 40 
fathoms; and fhortly after we could not 
find the bottom with a line a hundred fa- 
thoms long. Tallow was, as ufual, ape 
plied to the plummet, that we might be 
-able to judge of the nature of the ground 
from the particles that thus adhere to it. 
We obtained fmall pieces of fione, which 

* See Voyage, fait par Ordre du Roi en 
177%) 1772. : 
either 
a 
