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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of A voyage to Spitzbergen, by John Laing
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
-
-
-Title: A voyage to Spitzbergen
-       containing an account of that country, of the zoology of
-       the North; of the Shetland Islands; and of the whale fishery
-
-Author: John Laing
-
-Release Date: February 5, 2016 [EBook #51131]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Bryan Ness, Les Galloway and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration: Portrait, not captioned]
-
-
-                                   A
-                                VOYAGE
-                                  TO
-                             SPITZBERGEN;
-                             CONTAINING AN
-                       Account of that Country,
-                                OF THE
-             ZOOLOGY OF THE NORTH; OF THE SHETLAND ISLES;
-                       AND OF THE WHALE FISHERY.
-
-                           WITH AN APPENDIX,
-                              CONTAINING
-
-    An Historical Account of the DUTCH, ENGLISH, and AMERICAN
-    WHALE FISHERIES; some Important Observations
-    on the VARIATION OF THE COMPASS, &c.; and some Extracts
-    from Mr. SCORESBY’S Paper on “POLAR ICE.”
-
-                            BY JOHN LAING,
-                               SURGEON.
-
-                           _A NEW EDITION._
-
-                              EDINBURGH:
-                        PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR.
-
-                                 1825.
-
-
-                      PRINTED BY A. BALFOUR & CO.
-
-
-
-
-                                  TO
-                        JOHN R. M’CULLOCH, ESQ.
-
-                    THIS LITTLE WORK IS INSCRIBED,
-                                  AS
-                           A SMALL TESTIMONY
-                                  OF
-                       THE ESTEEM AND GRATITUDE
-                                  OF
-                           HIS MUCH OBLIGED,
-                              AND SINCERE FRIEND,
-
-                                      THE AUTHOR.
-
-
-
-
-ADVERTISEMENT.
-
-
-_The Journal I kept when on board the Resolution in 1806, is taken as
-the basis of the subsequent little Work. It may, however, be looked
-upon as containing the observations I made both in 1806 and 1807, as I
-have engrossed into the Narration whatever I observed of consequence
-the following year._
-
-
-[Illustration: DIAGRAM _of the_ ARCTIC REGIONS.
-_L. Schonberg’s Lithog._]
-
-
-
-
-ACCOUNT OF A VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN.
-
-
-In the year 1806, being at the University of Edinburgh, an
-advertisement was put on the College Gate, by Messrs. P. and C. Wood,
-merchants, Leith, intimating that a surgeon was wanted for the ship
-Resolution of Whitby, Yorkshire, engaged in the North Sea whale-fishery.
-
-Impelled by curiosity, and by a still more powerful motive, to visit
-the snow-clad coast of Spitzbergen, I applied; and was, after due
-examination, admitted surgeon for the voyage.
-
-Nothing particular occurred on my journey from this to Whitby, where
-I arrived on Sunday the 16th of March, and was, in every respect,
-comfortably accommodated at the house of the Captain.
-
-As we did not sail for several days after my arrival, I spent a
-considerable part of my time in making such remarks on the town as were
-particularly interesting.
-
-Whitby is a thriving sea-port in the North Riding of Yorkshire,
-situated on the mouth of the river Esk. It is chiefly celebrated for
-the manufacture of canvas, and for the extensive alum works in its
-neighbourhood. Its harbour is the best on this coast, and has a fine
-pier; but it has no river communication with the interior country.
-Behind the pier is a battery which mounts twelve eighteen-pounders.
-This town was formerly noted for its Abbey, of which some ruins still
-remaining testify its ancient magnificence.
-
-Here are different houses of worship, viz. an elegant church of
-the established religion; and several meeting-houses belonging to
-Presbyterians, Quakers, Methodists, Roman Catholics, &c.
-
-Whitby is 50 miles north-east of York, and 243 north of London; Lat.
-54° 30´ North, Long. 1° 55´ West.
-
-The word Whitby is a contraction of its original appellation White Bay,
-so called from the white surges made by the breaking of the waves along
-the shore, so that the whole bay assumes a white or frothy appearance
-to a person standing upon the opposite banks.
-
-Contiguous to this place, in a town called Marton, was born that great
-circumnavigator Captain James Cook, whose barometer (that which he used
-in his voyage of discovery) we had on board the Resolution.
-
-Between Whitby and Lyth, a small town distant about four miles, is a
-beautiful level strand, generally known by the name of Whitby Sands,
-upon which there used to be annual races; but now they are less
-frequent.
-
-Adjacent to Lyth, is the seat of the Mulgrave family, one of whom,
-Constantine John Phipps, (afterwards Lord Mulgrave), in 1773, undertook
-a voyage, by his Majesty’s command, towards the North Pole, under the
-hopes of discovering a passage to the East Indies in a north-east
-direction: but in which he, like many others, did not succeed.
-
-Among the sands on the shore are found stones resembling snakes without
-heads, the “_Cornu ammonis_” of naturalists. These stones are easily
-known by circular, or rather spiral windings marked on their outside.
-One of these being broken, its interior exhibits the appearance of a
-snake rolled up and ready to make a spring.
-
-That these are petrified snakes, is really believed by the peasants on
-the coast, concerning which they tell the following whimsical story:
-
-An old lady, say they, who lived in that neighbourhood some centuries
-back, having procured a charm, or spell, to banish some noxious
-reptiles with which that part of the country was then cruelly harassed,
-set to work, and, by her incantations, collected all the snakes within
-a considerable distance, and brought them to the banks of Whitby,
-whence she hurried them down so precipitately on the strand, that they
-all broke their necks, and of course, in their petrified state, are
-found without heads[1].
-
- [1] They affirm that this part of the coast has never since been
- frequented by those venomous creatures, although they are quite common
- in other parts of the kingdom. _Credat cui placeat._
-
-Not many years ago Whitby sent upwards of twenty vessels to Greenland;
-but afterwards that trade fell much to decay, until it was latterly
-revived by the persevering activity of Captain Scoresby, whose many
-successful whale-fishing voyages tended greatly to promote the opulence
-of this town, by encouraging others to embark in the same lucrative
-business.
-
-The Resolution, in which I made this voyage, was a stout new ship,
-of about four hundred tons burden, fitted out as a letter of marque,
-carrying twelve six-pounders, besides stern-chasers, and well
-furnished with firelocks, pistols, swords, cutlasses, bayonets, &c. She
-was provided with nine fishing boats, and her crew consisted of between
-sixty and seventy men.
-
-Greenland voyages are generally performed in the course of four or five
-months; but, lest vessels should be detained by the ice beyond that
-time, they have usually nine months provision on board.
-
-Our ship was abundantly supplied with good beef, pork, bacon, flour,
-oat-meal, biscuit, peas, potatoes, cheese, butter, molasses, preserved
-fruit, fowls, eggs, dried fish, strong ale, small beer, English brandy,
-tea, coffee, sugar, tobacco, besides plenty of foreign spirits and
-wines for the use of the cabin. Neither was there any cost spared in
-laying in an ample supply of proper medicines and cordials for the sick.
-
-Early on the morning of the 23d of March we set sail from Whitby,
-amidst the hearty cheers of a numerous concourse of spectators.
-
-Being favoured with a fresh breeze which caused a heavy swell, a
-general sickness prevailed at our first setting out, from which the
-most experienced seamen were not exempted, and which affected me
-so severely, as to preclude all possibility of making any remarks
-previous to our landing in Shetland.
-
-On the 25th at noon, we cast anchor in Bressay Sound, opposite Lerwick,
-the capital of the Shetland Isles.
-
-This town is situated in Mainland, so called from its being the
-principal of these Isles. It is about half a mile long, and is
-irregularly built; but contains some good houses, and is inhabited by
-about one thousand eight hundred persons. It is the seat of the courts
-held by the Sheriff-depute, or Stewart-depute. Two packets, or traders,
-having good cabins, and tolerable accommodation for passengers, sail
-occasionally between this and Leith.
-
-Lerwick derives its chief support from the courts of law, and from
-the vessels employed in the whale-fishery making this harbour their
-rendezvous.
-
-Near the north end of the town stands Fort Charlotte, a small
-fortification mounting eighteen large guns, from eighteen to thirty
-pounders, besides several very large field pieces. It commands the
-north entry to Bressay Sound, and is garrisoned by a small detachment
-of invalids.
-
-In the neighbourhood of this town there is a chalybeate spring, but it
-is not much esteemed for its medical virtues.
-
-Bressay Sound lies between Lerwick and Bressay Island, and forms an
-extensive and commodious harbour, in which 1000 vessels well found may
-ride at all seasons in the greatest safety. Here the Dutch herring
-fleet used to rendezvous about the middle of June. This harbour has the
-particular advantage of two entries, one from the south, and another
-from the north.
-
-On the outside of the north entry lies a sunk rock, called the Unicorn.
-On this rock was wrecked the Unicorn man-of-war sent out in pursuit
-of the Earl of Bothwell, who fled to Shetland; hence the rock has its
-name. The paltry village of Scallaway lies also on the Mainland, and
-has an excellent harbour. Near this is the ancient castle of Scallaway,
-built by one of the Earls of Orkney.
-
-These are the only two towns, or villages, in the Shetland Isles.
-
-Mainland is upwards of sixty miles long from north to south; and in
-some places upwards of twelve miles in breadth; it is so shaped, that
-no part of it lies above _three miles from the sea_; and consists of
-a great multitude of irregular promontories, and a vast number of
-peninsulæ connected by narrow isthmuses, insomuch that it abounds with
-bays and harbours almost innumerable.
-
-In the parish of North Mevan, a peninsula belonging to this Island,
-stands the cloud-capt mountain of Rona, the highest in Shetland. It
-is eight miles long, four broad, and three thousand nine hundred and
-forty-four geometrical feet above the level of the sea; serving for
-a land-mark to fishers and vessels coming from the Northern Ocean.
-From the top of this lofty eminence the eye commands an extensive and
-pleasing prospect, stretching fifty miles at least in every direction.
-The great number of small islands and peninsulas scattered beneath, and
-often a distant view of vessels, in summer, affords a most agreeable
-diversified scene.
-
-On the summit of this mountain stands a house, called the watch-house,
-in which six or seven men can sit. It is constructed of four large
-stones, covered by two more for a roof, on the top of which is erected
-a pyramidal tower of small stones.
-
-In the same parish stands a rock rising perpendicular on all sides
-to a vast height, which, at a few miles’ distance, looks like a ship
-under full sail. Near to this are two very high inaccessible pillars,
-on which the large species of cormorants breed. What is extraordinary,
-the rocks possessed by these birds one year is deserted the next,
-and returned to again after being a year unpossessed. This singular
-practice has been carried on time immemorial.
-
-Here is a small isle, called Dorholm, perforated by a vast arch,
-seventy feet in height, under which boats fish, having light from an
-opening at the top.
-
-Next to this is the holm and isle of Stenness, so much celebrated for
-the great number of kittiweaks which resort to it; the young of which
-being esteemed delicious food, are taken in great abundance.
-
-To the north of Stenness is the Maiden Skerry, a rock so called from
-its having never been trodden on by man. The lofty rock called the
-Ocean Skerry, stands about two miles from this, and serves as a good
-landmark for ships wanting a harbour in their passage from the north.
-
-Not far from this rock is the island of Papa, having a natural cave of
-three entrances, through which the tide ebbs and flows. It has several
-apartments, and is wide enough to admit a large boat with the oars at
-full length on each side. This gloomy cavern grows gradually wider
-towards the centre, which nature has ornamented with a beautiful arch.
-Beyond this, the boat is directed by a small gleam of light from an
-aperture in the top.
-
-The island of Bressay lies to the east of Mainland, and is about four
-miles long, and two broad.
-
-Adjoining to this Island, and on the south-east side of it, lies the
-small but fertile Island of Noss, the south headland of which is
-not less than four hundred and eighty feet in perpendicular height.
-Opposite to this, and distant ninety-six feet from the island, stands
-another perpendicular rock or holm, of the same height, quite level at
-the top, and producing excellent pasture for sheep.
-
-To transport them there, however, might well have been thought
-impossible; but human ingenuity requires only the exhibition of
-difficulties in order to overcome them. An islander climbed up the
-rock, and having fastened some ropes to stakes he drove into the soil
-on the top, threw them across the intervening chasm to the headland,
-where they were in like manner fastened. A cradle or basket was then
-drawn along these ropes, and sheep are thus transported to, and from
-the holm; and the eggs or young of the sea-fowl, which there breed in
-vast numbers, fall an easy prey to the skill and industry of man.
-
-The adventurous islander who first ascended the holm, and showed the
-possibility of joining it to the island, from an excess of bravery,
-met with an untimely end. Disdaining to pass over in the cradle, and
-trusting that the same expertness which had conducted him to the summit
-of the rock would enable him to descend to its base,--he fell, and was
-dashed to pieces.
-
-  “_Quem si non tenuit, magnis tamen excidit ausis._”
-
-It may be observed, that both men and horses are transported over the
-rapid rivers of South America in a similar manner. Vid. _Ull. Voyage de
-l’Amerique_, vol. i. p. 358.
-
-As there is a considerable discrepancy in authors as to the height
-of this rock, and the breadth of the chasm; and not having myself an
-opportunity of examining it, I have followed the account given by the
-accurate Pennant in his _Arctic Zoology_.
-
-The erection of a light-house on the Island of Noss would be of
-essential service to the interests of navigation. Many valuable ships,
-and, among others, a Russian frigate of 38 guns, have been lost on the
-east coast of the Shetland Isles.
-
-To the north of Mainland lies Yell, an Island twenty miles long, and
-nearly twelve broad, with several good harbours, or voes, as they are
-called by the inhabitants.
-
-Foula lies to the west of Mainland. It is about three miles long, and
-one and a half broad, and has only one harbour. This is called Ham, and
-is much resorted to by fishermen. Foula is thought by some to be that
-island which the ancients reckoned the ultimate limit of the habitable
-globe, and to which, therefore, they gave the appellation of “Ultima
-Thule.” This supposition is not founded solely on the mere analogy of
-the name, but also on the authority of Tacitus, who, speaking of the
-victories obtained by Agricola, and how far he penetrated northward,
-uses this expression: “_Insulas quas Orcadas vocant invenit domuitque;
-dispecta est et Thule quadamtenus._” _Tacit. Vit. Agric._ §10. But
-though the high land of Foula may be easily seen, in a clear day, from
-the northern part of the Orkneys, still it is doubtful whether this
-be really the island so called; because had the Roman fleet passed
-to the north of the Orkneys, they must have seen Mainland, Yell,
-and Unst, lying to the north of Foula. It may be further observed,
-that the description of Thule, as given by Pomp. Mela, lib. 3, §6,
-and Pliny, lib. 2, §75, and lib. 4, §16, is not reconcileable with
-the supposition of its being identical with Foula. At Thule, says
-Pomponius, “_Per Solstitium vero nullae (noctes sunt) quod tum jam
-manifestior non fulgorem modo sed sui quoque partem maximam ostentat._”
-This phenomenon, as Vossius has observed, can only belong to the 66th
-and 67th degree of latitude, and gives considerable countenance to the
-opinion of Thule being the same with Iceland.
-
-The statement of Pliny, who is not celebrated for geographical
-accuracy, is alike irreconcileable with either hypothesis, and belongs
-only to the Pole itself.
-
-These, (with the exception of Unst,) are all the islands belonging to
-Shetland that are worth notice, though they are nearly forty in number.
-About seventeen of these are inhabited; the rest being inconsiderable,
-are called Holms, and used only for pasture.
-
-On our arrival in Bressay Sound, there were anchored twenty-six ships
-from London, Hull, and Whitby, each of which, in turn, gave us three
-cheers, which we as often returned. All these ships were waiting for
-men, it being the place where most of the ships bound to the Greenland
-fishery call at to make up their complement.
-
-The Captain finding men very scarce, and wages high, did not engage any
-hands at Lerwick. We afterwards weighed anchor, and sailed out of the
-north entrance for Balti Sound, Island of Unst.
-
-Balti Sound is in the middle of the east side of the island, into
-which it stretches nearly two miles. Before the entrance, is a large
-narrow island, called Balti, whence the Sound derives its name, and
-which shelters it from all winds, forming an excellent safe harbour or
-anchoring place. If a ship be leaky, there are several very commodious
-beaches on which she may be laid until thoroughly repaired. This
-harbour used to be the most frequented of any in Shetland, especially
-by ships going to Archangel and Greenland.
-
-Unst, the remotest of the Shetland Isles, and most northern part of his
-Britannic Majesty’s dominions, is supposed to be about eight miles long
-and four broad.
-
-A hill called Vallafield rises within a mile and a half of its northern
-extremity, and runs directly parallel to the western coast, to the
-very northern point. It is six hundred feet high. At right angles with
-this hill, stands Crossfield, nearly in the middle of the island. To
-the north lies Saxaforth, which is seven hundred feet high. It is the
-highest in the island, and may be seen upwards of forty miles off the
-coast. A hill, called Vordhill, runs parallel to the east coast.
-
-Among these hills are tracts of level fertile ground, and the highest
-hill is some feet covered with black moss. Unst contains many fresh
-water lochs. That of Cliff is two miles long, and nearly half a mile
-broad. The banks of this loch exhibit pleasant and most beautiful
-scenery. From this loch a few smaller ones run to the southern part of
-the island.
-
-The headlands here rise to the height of sixty or seventy fathoms; but
-the shores of the bays and harbours are low and sandy.
-
-About this island are scattered here and there a great many very small
-ones.
-
-Around the coast are several curious natural caves. One at Sha has its
-roof supported by octagonal pillars.
-
-At Burra Firth are a vast number of small caves, running from the sea
-under the hills. One of these only is entered once a-year, and robbed
-of the seals which frequent it. The rest are mostly inaccessible.
-
-To the east of this, under an arm of the hill of Saxaforth, is
-a magnificent natural arch, three hundred feet long, and of a
-considerable height, through which a boat can row.
-
-The Shetland Isles, (called by the Dutch, Zetland; and, by the Danes,
-Yetland,) lie between sixty and sixty-one degrees of north latitude,
-and have their longest day about nineteen, and their shortest about
-five hours.
-
-These islands, with those of the Orkneys, make one of the counties of
-Scotland, which send a representative to the British Parliament.
-
-The climate of these, as of all other isles of like size, is far from
-being settled. The atmosphere is, in general moist. They have also
-heavy snows, but not much frost; and are often visited by dreadful
-storms of wind, rain, and thunder, in so much that the water is
-agitated even to the bottom of these comparatively shallow seas.
-
-Owing to the great refraction of northern latitudes, for about three
-months in summer they enjoy the sight of the sun almost without
-intermission; but for the same space in winter, (especially in
-December,) that luminary hardly rises above the horizon, and is
-commonly obscured by clouds and mists.
-
-    “The sun from far shows with a sickly face,
-    Too weak the fogs and mighty dews to chase.”
-
-In this gloomy season, the absence of day is supplied partly by
-moon-light, and partly by the radiance of the _aurora borealis_, or
-merry-dancers, as they are called in these islands. These are the
-constant attendants of clear evenings, and prove great reliefs, amidst
-the gloom of the dark winter night. They commonly appear at twilight,
-near the horizon, of a dun colour, approaching to yellow; sometimes
-continuing in that state for several hours without any apparent motion,
-after which they break out into streams of stronger light, spreading
-into columns, and altering slowly into ten thousand different shapes,
-varying their colours from all the lines of yellow to the most obscure
-russet. They often cover the whole hemisphere, and then make the most
-brilliant appearance. Their motions at these times are amazingly
-quick; and they astonish the spectator with the rapid change of their
-form. They break out in places where none were seen before, skimming
-briskly along the heavens: are suddenly extinguished, and leave behind
-an uniform dusky tract. This again is brilliantly illuminated in the
-same manner, and as suddenly left a dull blank. In certain nights they
-assume the appearance of vast columns, on one side of the deepest
-yellow, on the other declining away, till it become undistinguished
-from the sky.
-
-They have generally a strong tremulous motion from end to end, which
-continues till the whole vanish. According to the state of the
-atmosphere, they differ in colours. They often assume the colour
-of blood, and make a most dreadful appearance. The rustic sages
-represent these phenomena as prognosticative of future events, and
-thereby affright the gaping multitude with dread of war, famine, and
-pestilential devastations. Vid. Pen. _Arct. Zool._ vol. i. p. 27.
-
-The ebb tides here run north, and the flood tides to the southward,
-unless on the north and south extremities of the country, where they
-run east and west; but their rapidity is inconsiderable when compared
-to that of the firths of Orkney.
-
-The shores are generally lofty, and rise almost perpendicular from the
-ocean.
-
-I went out with the captain in one of the ship’s boats, and sailed
-round some of the headlands of Unst. The scene was truly sublime:--fogs
-immured their summits; the noise of the sea dashing against the
-rocks;[2] and the screams of the eagles and other birds of prey, which
-there enjoy perfect security; combined with the sombre and terrific
-appearance exhibited by these bulwarks of nature, impressed us with
-awe and a pleasing kind of astonishment. The prospect to me was quite
-novel. I had formerly been familiar only with champaign countries;
-but I had no difficulty in declaring, that it was from some such scene
-as this only, that one could form an adequate conception of natural
-magnificence.
-
- [2] _Planctus illisæ cautibus undæ._
-
-The face of the country exhibits a prospect of black craggy mountains
-and marshy plains, interspersed with some verdant spots which appear
-smooth and fertile. Neither tree nor shrub is to be seen, except the
-juniper and heath.
-
-    “Throughout the horrid wild no tree was seen,
-    Earth, clad in russet, scorn’d the lively green.”
-
-This want of trees and shrubs is the more remarkable, as in different
-parts of these islands there are evident marks of their having been
-once a wooded country. In the island of Foula are often found the
-remains of large trees laid bare by the violence of some tempest,
-carrying away the strata which covered them. At present, however, no
-kind of wood can be made grow; and it is found extremely difficult
-to cultivate even the lowest and most common shrub. This decrease of
-vegetation has not been satisfactorily accounted for.
-
-The nature of the soil is very different. In some places it consists of
-deep moss, with a sandy bottom; in others the moss is only about a foot
-deep over a stratum of clay. The cultivated parts consist generally of
-a mixture of clay and small stones. In some places there is abundance
-of tough clay, similar to that used in Britain in the manufacture of
-bricks or pottery.
-
-No coal has hitherto been discovered in these Islands, but in several
-of them are found limestone, freestone, rock-crystal, corals, white
-spar, iron-ore, copper-ore, sulphur, fuller’s earth, and veins of
-variegated jasper.
-
-Springs of fresh water are frequent in the mountains; and there are
-numerous lakes and streams, abounding in salmon, trout, &c.
-
-Along the shores are a great many ancient towers, originally known
-by the names of Burrows or Duns; but by the inhabitants they are now
-called Wart or Wardhills. They were so arranged, that the whole Islands
-could, by signals from one to another, be apprised of approaching
-danger in a very short time. Sometimes they were used for state
-prisons. Vid. Baxter, _Gloss. Antiq. Brit._
-
-Some of these are surrounded with dry ditches, others with walls. I saw
-one in Unst, called Snaburg, which has both a wet and a dry ditch. One
-of these ditches is cut with great labour through the solid rock.
-
-There is another in Fetlar, (one of the most remote of the Shetland
-Isles,) in the form of a Roman Camp, having in the middle a rectangular
-area surrounded by a wall, and that by an earthen rampart of the same
-figure. Vid. Plate, _Pen. Arct. Zool._ vol. i. p. 33.
-
-Druidical circles of stones are also common here.
-
-There have also been found swords made of the bones of large fish,
-flint heads of arrows, flint hatchets, &c.
-
-In the Island of Unst are two curious sepulchral circles. The largest
-consist of three concentric circles, its greatest being fifty feet in
-diameter. The outermost circle is formed of small stones, the other two
-of earth. Through all these is a single narrow entrance to a _tumulus_
-which stands in the centre.
-
-The other circle is considerably less, and has only two rings made of
-earth.
-
-An extensive burying-place has also been discovered in the Isle of
-Westra, by the violence of the winds blowing away the sands which
-covered the bodies twenty feet below the surface of the earth. Near
-this are a great many graves, discovered only by a few short upright
-stones set in the level sand.
-
-Among the human bones have been found those of oxen, horses, dogs, and
-sheep; as also battle-axes, different kinds of swords, brazen daggers,
-knives, spoons, cups, curious stones, beads, &c. At one time there was
-found a thigh bone closely encircled by a ring of gold. Pen. _Arct.
-Zool._ vol. i. p. 36.
-
-In the more early stages of society, this custom of burying weapons,
-and the rude symbols of worship along with the dead, was perhaps every
-where practised. The Catacombs of Egypt, and the Tumuli of Peru, abound
-with relics of this description. The following verses of Virgil allude
-to the same ceremony:
-
-    “Some in the flames,[3] the wheels and bridles throw,
-    The swords and helmets of the vanquish’d foe;
-    Some the known shields their brethren bore in vain,
-    And unsuccessful jav’lins of the slain.”
-                          PITT’S _Virg._ lib. I. xi. 266.
-
- [3] The funeral piles.
-
-It has been long since observed, that the two extremes of heat and
-cold are alike unfavourable to the growth of such animals as may be
-considered indigenous to the temperate zone. Excessive heat in the
-one case induces relaxation; while the contrary extreme diminishes
-the vital principle, and stunts the growth of the animal. The animals
-common to Britain are, in the Shetland Isles, of a greatly reduced
-size. Their horses, familiar to us by the name of shelties, are very
-numerous, and seldom more than nine or ten hands high. They are
-covered with long hair, and are remarkably strong, spirited, and not
-unhandsome. They are chiefly used for carrying home peats, and never
-receive any food but what they gather from the scanty herbage of the
-ground. Neither are they ever put into a house, so that many of them
-die in the winter.
-
-The steadiness with which these ponies travel through the most rugged
-paths is surprising. In both 1806 and 1807, I made several expeditions
-into the country mounted on them. An islander preceded me to point out
-the way. At first I thought my brains must have been dashed out, but I
-soon recovered from this panic. In the most wretched and precipitous
-paths, the animal never made a single false step, and also travelled
-with considerable agility.
-
-The Shetland cows are also very small, and, owing to the scarcity of
-fodder, give but little milk. They are kept close in the house, summer
-and winter; and are littered with heath, and sometimes with peat mould.
-
-The women of Shetland are, in general, ignorant of making cheese; but
-their butter, when manufactured for sale, is equal to any that can
-be found elsewhere. That made for the payment of rent is of a much
-inferior quality.
-
-It was an old custom here to pay their rent one half in grease butter
-at Lammas, and the other half in money at Martinmas. This custom,
-however, is generally relinquished, and the butter converted into money.
-
-Their method of making butter being curious, I have thought proper to
-describe it. They fill their churn with milk, which they churn in the
-usual way till the oleaginous part be made to separate from the serum.
-They then throw in some red-hot stones, and continue churning till the
-butter float at the top, when it is taken out, and carefully washed and
-salted. The butter-milk being boiled, what floats on the surface is
-used as food, and the residue is esteemed an excellent beverage; and
-when kept over winter, they reckon it an efficacious antidote against
-the bad effects arising from the constant use of fish.
-
-Their swine are of a remarkably small size, short-backed, and easily
-fed. A pig ready for the spit is often sold at two shillings.
-
-Their sheep (the most profitable part of their live stock, and which
-are calculated to be from 110,000 to 120,000 in number,) are likewise
-of very small growth. One between three and five years old, sells from
-four to seven shillings.
-
-In winter, especially when the ground is covered with snow, these
-animals feed on the sea-weed, with which the shores are covered. This
-they resort to by a kind of natural instinct; for as soon as the tide
-begins to ebb, the whole body of them (although feeding several miles
-off) make for the seashores, where they stay as long as the tide will
-permit them, and then return to their usual walks.
-
-The wool of these sheep is remarkably soft and fine; but there is so
-much diversity in its quality, that some stockings at L.2, 2s. per
-pair, and others at sixpence, are made from it. The common price of
-tolerable good stockings is from five shillings to half-a-guinea per
-pair. They are all knitted. The very fine ones, which are esteemed
-superior in value to silk, will pass through a small finger ring.
-The different colours of the wool are white, black, light grey, and
-sometimes a russet. The sheep are never shorn; but early in June the
-wool is pulled off without injuring the animal. In this process care
-is taken to leave the long hairs which grow amongst the wool, by
-which means the young wool is sheltered, and the animal kept warm and
-comfortable.[4]
-
- [4] Shetland sheep seem to be peculiarly calculated for an insular
- situation, hence they are distinguished by Sir John Sinclair by the
- name of “Island sheep.”
-
-“It has been lately discovered that the skin of this breed, with the
-fleece on, may be prepared so as to make a beautiful fur; and their
-excellent quality may probably make them fit to be converted into
-morocco leather, the raw material of which cannot easily be procured in
-sufficient quantities.” Vid. Report of the Society for Improvement of
-British Wool.
-
-The people of these isles have attempted to introduce a larger breed of
-sheep from Britain, but the inclemency of the climate rendered their
-labours abortive. This verifies what the famous Scottish historian says
-of these Isles:
-
-“_Adeo fera, ut nullum animal nisi illic natum ferat._” Buch. lib. 1. §
-50.
-
-Here are neither hares nor foxes, though rabbits are plenty; the skins
-of which are sold at about half-a-guinea per dozen. The flesh of these
-is nothing inferior to those of Britain, though they are somewhat less
-in size.
-
-The other wild quadrupeds which have reached these islands, are the
-otter, brown rat, common mouse, fetid shrew, and bat.
-
-The Shetland Isles abound with several kinds of birds, as curlews,
-snipes, grouse, green plovers, redshanks, herons, and other _waders_.
-The short-eared owl is also frequently seen here, and makes its nest
-on the ground. This species never flies, like other owls, in search of
-prey, but sits quiet on an eminence, watching like a cat the appearance
-of mice or other vermin. No partridges are found in these Isles, and
-many of the other birds migrate to a warmer clime on the approach of
-winter.
-
-The lofty cliffs impending over the ocean, are the haunts of eagles,
-falcons, ravens, hawks, hooded crows, &c. The Erne-eagles, which are
-very ravenous, and destructive among the lambs, possess the most
-exalted precipices, and, like the falcons, will not admit of any
-society. This, Pliny, in his _Hist. Nat._ lib. 10. c. 3. beautifully
-expresses:-- “_Unum par Aquilarum magno ad populandum tractu, ut
-satietur, indiget; determinant ergo spatia nec in proximo prædantur._”
-
-A premium of three shillings and fourpence is obtained for killing
-one of these eagles; and smaller premiums are given for killing less
-destructive birds.
-
-Here are also seen grey linnets, larks, sparrows, red-breasts, wrens,
-landrails, and stone chatters. The tame fowl are, geese, ducks,
-pigeons, dung-hill fowl, and some turkeys.
-
-To the winding bays resort swans, dunter, clack, and soland geese;
-teal, Greenland doves, shearwaters, kittiweaks, (which are amazingly
-numerous,) different kinds of gulls, cormorants, and other aquatic
-birds.
-
-In the islands of Unst and Foula is bred a bird of the web-footed kind,
-called Skua, about two feet long, having its claws sharp, strong, and
-hooked, like those of a kite. It preys on the lesser water fowl, like
-a rapacious land bird, and is so remarkably courageous and fierce in
-defending its young, that it will even repel the eagle from its haunts.
-Some birds are driven here by the frost from the inclement north, and
-pass their winter in the Shetland bays; whilst others, (mostly of the
-palmated kind,) retire in the spring to more southern latitudes. The
-guillemot remains in these islands till November.
-
-This is a very pretty bird, about one foot and a half long. Its bill
-is about three inches long; head, neck, back, wings, and tail of a
-deep mouse colour. Its breast and belly milk white. There is another
-bird, called the stormy petrel, of a black and white colour, with a
-black bill much hooked at the end. It breeds commonly among the loose
-stones on the shore; and, bounding into the water, often affrights the
-superstitious fishermen, who take it to be an omen of some impending
-disaster. These birds are found at all distances from land, in all
-parts of the Atlantic, from Great Britain to the coast of North
-America; and follow ships in great flocks. On account of their clamour
-at night (being silent through the day) they are hated by sailors, who
-(imagining they forbode a storm) call them witches.
-
-Our sailors shot many of these birds, but that had not much effect in
-making the others keep a more respectful distance.
-
-Many of the inhabitants of these islands feed, during the season,
-on the eggs and young of wild birds. These they procure in a very
-dangerous manner from cliffs, in some places from sixty to one hundred
-fathoms high. The attempt is mostly made from above. The dauntless
-adventurer descends by a rope made either of straw or hog’s bristles,
-and held by a person at the top. Oftentimes the rope breaks, and the
-unhappy fowler is either dashed to pieces or drowned. The necessity of
-shifting the rope from place to place, with the impending weight of the
-fowler and his prey, renders the attempt much more hazardous.
-
-In Foula they drive a small stake or dagger in the soil at the top of
-the precipice, to which they fasten a fishing line. By this slender
-assistance they descend to the place where the nests are, which they
-plunder, and ascend again with amazing intrepidity. This manner of
-fowling was, by the Norwegian law, considered a species of suicide.
-
-What is still more extraordinary, custom has so hardened the
-Shetlanders against all sense of danger, that they will wander among
-the rocks at night, in order to surprise the old fowl upon the nest.
-
-The eggs and young of the black-backed and herring gulls, compose the
-chief part of the booty acquired in these predatory and desperate
-attempts.
-
-The seas[5] abound with cod, turbot, haddock, ling, and two certain
-species of northern fish, called torsk and opah. Lobsters, crabs,
-oysters, &c. are also very plentiful. At certain seasons vast shoals of
-herrings visit these shores. In June they appear in surprising columns,
-and perform the circuit of the islands; after which they totally
-disappear, especially in time of storm. After they first approach from
-the north, the appearance of the ocean is materially altered. They
-are divided into columns of five or six miles long, and three or four
-broad; and, in their passage, the water is propelled before them like
-an impetuous current. Sometimes they sink for a little while, then
-rise again to the surface. When the sun shines, the appearance of this
-finny tribe is most beautiful, being similar to a spacious field of
-variegated gems.
-
- [5] _Divitiæ eis sunt a mari, ab omni parte summa piscandi commoditate
- objecta._ Buch. lib. 1. § 50.
-
-They afford a sure subsistence to vast multitudes of birds, of whales,
-and other fish; and, to complete their destruction, man himself joins
-in the common chase.
-
-For this purpose, vessels from many nations used to rendezvous in
-Bressay Sound, to lay in treasures of this useful species.[6]
-
- [6] The Dutch formerly carried on this fishery very extensively. It
- has, however, been on the decline with them ever since the year 1703.
- They had then about 500 busses in Shetland, under the convoy of four
- ships of war, but a French fleet of six ships of war sent out for the
- purpose, fell in with the Dutch, and, an engagement taking place,
- the Dutch Admiral’s ship was sunk, on which the remaining three ran
- away and made their escape; whereupon, the French fleet sailed for
- the entry of Bressay Sound, sent their boats into the bay, and burned
- and destroyed about 400 of the Dutch fishing vessels, sparing only a
- number barely sufficient to carry home the crews of the whole.
-
-The fishing business here engrosses the whole attention of the men. To
-this they constantly resort in all seasons and weathers, in small light
-skiffs which they get from Norway. These boats go out about noon, and
-do not return until three, and sometimes six o’clock the following day.
-During that time they often go twelve leagues from land. The yearly
-export of fish to foreign markets, particularly those of Spain and
-Italy, amounts to several hundred tons.
-
-Agriculture, in the Shetland Isles, is at a very low ebb. The land
-being in general very barren, rocky, and chiefly depending on the
-tillage of the women, yields but scanty produce. The labour, in the
-lesser isles, is performed by digging over the soil like a garden.
-Their spade is narrow, like that used in cutting peats, and not at all
-similar to that with which they dig in Britain and Ireland.
-
-After the seed is sown, (which they do in a very awkward manner, going
-backwards as if sowing onion seeds,) the women drag a kind of harrow,
-made _wholly_ of wood, over it, taking hold of a straw rope fastened
-to the harrow, and passing over their shoulders. This I have seen them
-do, at the same time that the men were lying beside them looking on.
-
-In Mainland, where the farms are more level and extensive, they
-make use of a sort of plough, such as was common in times of remote
-antiquity, and which a man may carry to any distance in one hand. The
-ploughman walks by the side of the plough, which he directs by a small
-handle fixed on the top of it. The driver (if so he may be called) goes
-before the oxen, and pulls them on by a rope tied round their horns;
-and some with spades follow, to level the furrow and break the clods.
-Such seed as I saw, was not so good as that called drawings, or small
-corn, in Britain, and was also chaffy, and seemingly of a bad species.
-From the appearance of a stubble, it was evident that their crops were
-neither luxuriant nor prolific.
-
-So prevalent is their rage for fishing, that the only land used in
-husbandry is that along the sea coast, which bears no proportion to
-that lying waste and uncultivated.
-
-In some places where the soil is fertile, the crops are early,
-especially where the substratum is limestone; but the seasons are so
-various, that it is impossible to state the precise time of harvest.
-
-The grain crop consists of a small kind of black or grey oats, and
-a species of barley, commonly called bear or big. The oatmeal has a
-bitter burnt taste. The potatoes, however, are tolerably good.
-
-Very little time is, in general, devoted to gathering of manure.
-Sometimes they make use of sea-weed either by itself, or made into
-small dunghills with cow-dung or earth. Notwithstanding that they have
-abundance of limestone and peats, they seldom use lime as a manure,
-owing to which neglect, and the want of fallowing, they have frequently
-a plentiful crop of weeds.
-
-There is a very great stop to agricultural improvements still to be
-considered. Most of the tenants hold their farm from year to year by
-a verbal bargain; and the stipulations of the very few written leases
-that are granted, consist chiefly in binding the tenant assiduously
-to attend his landlord’s fishing as long as he possesses his farm.
-Now, any failure in this is a forfeiture of the agreement. But he may
-labour the land as he pleases; no question is asked on this head by the
-landlord.
-
-The grain is cut down in the usual way, and when fit, is carried home
-either on the shoulders of the women, or on horseback.
-
-There are not more than two or three carts in these islands, and these
-are only kept by gentlemen by way of novelty. Neither are there any
-roads, public or private, except the foot-paths made over the hills by
-the horses, cattle, and sheep.
-
-The landlords build the farm houses at their own expense. They are
-generally mean, low huts, into which a person must enter in a bending
-posture; and if he have not a guide (unless he be acquainted with
-the windings of the fabric,) he will scarcely find the apartment
-occupied by the family, they and their cattle being, for the most part,
-inhabitants of the same building[7]. They have the fire in the middle
-of the house. The beds are commonly like those of ships, with sliding
-doors. A table, a pot, and some stools, are the principal furniture to
-be seen.
-
- [7]
-                  “---- Ignemque Laremque
-    Et pecus et dominos communi clauderet umbra.”--JUVENAL.
-
-
-Whether there were any chests, presses, cupboards, &c. in any of
-the huts which I visited, the continual smoke would not admit being
-ascertained. It is evident, however, that they are exempt from the
-window tax, as they have only a small hole besides that of the chimney,
-on which is a door to shut and open occasionally.
-
-The office-houses (where there are any) are truly despicable. These the
-tenants build at their own expense, and in the cheapest manner they
-can, on account of the uncertainty of their tenure.
-
-Here are few inclosures, so that the land lies almost wholly in open
-fields; and by this breach of agricultural economy their crops are
-exposed to the ravages of the numerous sheep, cattle, &c. which feed on
-the commons without herdsmen.
-
-These islanders trade chiefly to Leith, London, and Hamburgh; and
-with Dutch fishermen, and such ships as visit their coasts. The chief
-exports are linen and woollen yarn, rugs, stockings, butter, dried
-fish, herrings, oil, feathers, skins of various kinds, and kelp; the
-manufacture of which was first commenced in 1780. The commodities
-imported are corn, oatmeal, spirits, tobacco, lines and hooks, salt, &c.
-
-Here the Greenland ships are frequently served with mittens,
-night-caps, comforters, wigs, &c.
-
-The inhabitants are sure to come with their boats alongside such ships
-as happen to call in here. They bring with them fish, fowl, eggs, &c.
-for which they get beef, pork, flour, meal, or such provisions as they
-may wish to have. They choose rather to barter than sell for money,
-probably for this reason, that they generally get more than the value
-of their commodities; at least, they do not fail to ask plenty, and
-have cunning enough to lay down their case as very deplorable, which
-tends to excite in the breasts of commanders of vessels that sympathy
-which is so peculiar to sailors. The Shetlanders, by these means, find
-a very good market for such things as they have to dispose of, and
-generally get as much meat and drink as they can take while on board.
-
-The Shetland Isles are divided into twelve parishes, in which are
-placed twelve ministers, the office of some of whom is very laborious,
-there being different small islands in one parish: besides, the paths
-are remarkably bad, and the people so wretchedly poor, that they cannot
-afford to accommodate their pastor in times of public examinations,
-visitations, &c. insomuch, that unless he carry with him, on those
-occasions, some store of _viaticum_, he must content himself with the
-soothing hope of a hearty meal on his return home.
-
-These islands enjoy the advantage of parochial schoolmasters, having
-the salaries allowed on the Scottish establishment; by which means the
-inhabitants are all taught to read, write, and understand arithmetic;
-and among those of any rank, the Latin, Greek, and French languages are
-not unknown, as also the rudiments of the mathematics.
-
-The English language prevails in all these islands; but they being a
-long time subject to the Kings of Norway, it is spoken with the accent
-of that country, and is mixed with a great many Norwegian words,
-especially in Foula. Neither here nor in the Orkneys is the Gaelic
-language known.
-
-English as well as Danish money is current here; but neither species is
-superabundant.
-
-According to the latest account, this group of islands contains 22,379
-inhabitants, among whom are about twenty considerable proprietors, and
-a great many small ones. The whole land-rent amounts to about £5000
-per annum, which is a small sum when compared with the profits the
-proprietors make by the fisheries, in which they are all concerned.
-This business is carried on by the tenants: an affair which tends much
-to affect the state of the common people at large. The landlords,
-as before mentioned, make their lands subservient to this trade, by
-setting them in small portions to fishermen; and, in order the more to
-propagate the human species for the purpose of fishing, the young men
-get premiums of small subdivisions of land, (though without lease,) on
-their taking wives. The poor, who thus swallow the matrimonial bait,
-getting more numerous families than they can maintain, and having no
-way of supporting themselves but by the fish which they take; (and
-which they are obliged to sell to their landlords at a fixed price,)
-are often necessitated, either to go on board such merchant vessels as
-call in here, or to enter voluntarily into his Majesty’s navy. In many
-places, three or four families are found on a farm which, thirty or
-forty years ago, was possessed only by one.
-
-Unmarried men have another inducement to enter into matrimony; for when
-government requires a number of men for the Navy, the proprietors take
-good care to send off those who are unmarried. By these factitious
-regulations, the population has become superabundant, insomuch that
-the produce of the islands does not support their inhabitants more
-than seven or eight months in the year. Before the proprietors of
-land became so deeply engaged in the fishing business, juvenile or
-premature marriages were, in these islands, looked on as next to a
-crime, because thereby the population might increase to such a degree
-as to become ruinous and oppressive to the whole community. For this
-reason, a regulation was made against marriage, unless when the parties
-could produce evidence that they possessed L.40 Scots, or L.3, 6s.
-8d. Sterling. This salutary law is now never enforced, to the great
-prejudice of the whole inhabitants. It is curious to observe how the
-principles of Mr. Malthus accommodate themselves to, and receive
-illustration from, the smallest societies.
-
-The secluded inhabitants of these solitary isles are very unhealthy,
-and seem to complain of one general disorder, which is of a phthisical
-and scrophulous nature, the cause of which evidently seems to be this:
-the men are exposed to intense cold at the fishing, where they remain
-twenty-four, thirty, and sometimes forty-eight hours in open boats; get
-their feet wet: and when they come home have but very sorry cheer to
-accommodate themselves with; nor is their daily employment sufficiently
-laborious to prove a healthful exercise. Hence proceed colds, coughs,
-phthisis pulmonalis, and every thing which renders the frame a
-complete nest of complicated disorders. The women above the common
-rank, lead a very sedentary life, and seldom appear out of doors,
-unless at church, which, probably on account of its great distance from
-them, they do not often visit. Besides, tea has found its way into
-these dreary regions, a constant use of which is the well-known enemy
-of those who lead sedentary lives, and do not take exercise sufficient
-to promote the necessary secretions. Hence come on relaxation of the
-solids, indigestion, flatulency, glandular obstructions, hysterics, &c.
-
-None of the female sex here appeared so healthy and blooming as those
-employed in cultivating the ground.
-
-During our stay here in both 1806 and 1807, I was asked to visit
-different sick patients, and found a private infirmary almost in every
-house. To some of those I hope I gave useful medicines; to others I
-gave only some simples to satisfy them, as I found they were fast
-hastening to that “bourn whence no traveller returns.”
-
-Medical advice and drugs are at a very exorbitant price here; and
-such cordials as wine, &c. cannot be procured for love or money. As
-the Captain was so charitable as to allow me to give medicines gratis
-to such as were really objects of compassion, I took nothing for my
-trouble in preparing them, or visiting the sick; knowing, that if God
-should be pleased to make me an instrument in relieving the distressed,
-I would be more than amply repaid.
-
-April 3. Having got eight men at Balti Sound, we weighed anchor at
-ten A. M. and sailed out of the north entrance with a fine south-west
-breeze.
-
-For some days we had fine clear frosty weather, during which time no
-particular occurrence took place.
-
-On the 12th, at four P. M. we saw the long narrow island of Jan Mayen,
-(so called from the name of its discoverer,) bearing north-east, and
-distant about ten leagues. It lies in about 71° N. Lat. and 8° 15´ E.
-Long. from Ferro. Vid. Forster’s _Hist. Voy. to the North_, p. 422.
-
-This island was once, in honour of Prince Maurice of Nassau, called
-_Mauritius Island_ in _Greenland_, to distinguish it from Mauritius
-island on the N. W. point of Spitzbergen. It stretches from N. E. to S.
-W. The north end rises into a high mountain called Beerenberg, from its
-being haunted by bears; though its steepness renders it inaccessible to
-man. A hundred yards from the shore the water is about sixty fathoms
-deep: but a little farther out no soundings have been found.
-
-The seas neighbouring to this island were formerly much frequented by
-whale fishers, (especially from 1611 to 1633,) but the whales are now
-seldom found here, having withdrawn to the ice, where they enjoy more
-security.
-
-The bears, sea-horses, and other voracious marine animals, together
-with the foxes and carnivorous birds, not finding so good a supply of
-whale carrion, as usual, have also, in a great measure, deserted the
-coast.
-
-On the land are still seen some vestiges of those temporary buildings
-where the fishers of that time boiled their blubber. But this practice
-of boiling blubber in the North has long since been discontinued, and
-is now performed on the return of the vessels to their respective ports.
-
-In 1633, seven sailors were left in Jan Mayen Island to winter; but on
-the 7th of June following they were all found dead, (chiefly of the
-scurvy,) by some people from Holland, who arrived there. It was evident
-that they had lived through the winter, as their journal was carried
-down to the 30th of April, soon after which they must have fallen
-victims to disease.
-
-It is necessary to observe, that the Dutch at this period entertained
-hopes of being able to found some permanent establishments in the
-North, and that for this purpose men were sometimes left in these
-islands, to make observations during the winter. The wretched fate
-that generally attended these adventurers, at last induced the
-States-General totally to relinquish the attempt.
-
-Here we fell in with some _streams_ of ice, which we went through in
-search of seals; but of these we saw very few, and got none. Spoke a
-brig from Bergen. 15th, One sail in sight.
-
-On the 16th we were encountered by a violent storm from the north; and
-after running, as near as we could calculate, about fifty leagues in
-a south-westerly direction, we were met by a great number of birds;
-this clearly showed us to be at no great distance from land, and had
-we continued under the same course, we perhaps would soon have fallen
-in with Iceland; here however, we lay-to under close reefed top-sails,
-till the weather moderated, and on the 17th we sailed in a north-east
-direction. The weather at this time was so hazy that we could not take
-an observation; and after a gale, and lying-to, not much reliance can
-be placed on the reckoning by account.
-
-I may here remark that top-sails are now generally reckoned the best
-sails for a ship to ly-to under. They are not exposed to accidents
-from becalming in a heavy sea; and, from their height, they have more
-power to steady the ship than a sail of treble size nearer the deck;
-top-sails used for lying-to should be made of stouter canvass than
-usual.
-
-22d, The Greenland fleet in sight.
-
-23d, Eighteen sail in company. Lay-to about three quarters of an hour
-to get some fresh water ice, which is known from that of salt water
-by its crystalline transparency, the other being very opaque. We
-occasionally brought large pieces of it on board in a boat, which were
-piled upon the deck to serve as water for the use of the men, and had
-also a hogshead filled with it for the tea-water in the cabin.
-
-24th, Several showers of snow. To-day we passed that solitary spot
-called Bear, or Cherry Island, in Lat. 74° 30´ N. Long. 19° 5´ E.
-The surface of this island is mountainous, craggy, and dreary in
-its aspect; exhibiting in some places a scene of black, stupendous
-precipices; and in others lofty eminences covered with snow.
-
-The ears of people approaching this island are incessantly assailed
-with the sounds of the impetuous waves dashing against the rugged
-shores; the crashing collision of floating ice; the discordant notes
-of innumerable birds; the barking of arctic foxes; the snorting of
-walruses[8], and the dreadful roaring of the polar bears.
-
- [8] These animals have been found here, lying huddled together, a
- thousand in a heap.
-
-The currents near the island are remarkably rapid, which renders it
-impracticable to cast anchor within two miles of it, where soundings
-can be had in twenty or thirty fathoms. Vid. Forster, p. 329.
-
-In 1604, this island was visited by a ship commanded by Stephen Bennet,
-who, in this and many succeeding voyages, killed prodigious numbers of
-sea-horses, or walruses. He discovered also abundance of lead ore under
-a mountain, (by him named Mount Misery, from its truly wretched and
-forlorn appearance,) of which he brought upwards of thirty tons home to
-England. Here are also found coals of an excellent quality, and very
-fine virgin silver of different forms. Vid. Forster, p. 332.
-
-Near to Cherry Island is a small spot called Gull Island, on which were
-likewise found several veins of lead ore and coals.
-
-25th, Clear weather and hard frost.
-
-26th, Clear weather, and a considerable quantity of ice.
-
-27th, Some snow; ice increasing.
-
-28th, At ten A. M. the ship was made fast to a large iceberg, the
-lowest part of which was about ten, and the highest forty feet from
-the surface of the water. Its circumference was considerable.
-
-These floating mountains of ice, to which Dutch navigators have given
-the name of Icebergs, and which are of all different magnitudes, are
-originally formed on land. The sun, even in those high latitudes, has a
-considerable power in melting the snow on the mountains, which, running
-down into the valleys, and again congealing, segments frequently break
-off from the entire mass, and fall into the sea. The ice of which these
-floating masses are composed, is of various colours. The original
-fresh water ice is sometimes incrusted with that formed from the sea
-water, and this again is covered with new ice formed of fallen snow.
-The different positions of the spectator relatively to the incidental
-rays of light, varies likewise the seeming hue of the whole. In some
-parts it emulates the vividness of the emerald, and in others, the
-most beautiful sapphire. When the iceberg is totally composed of
-melted snow, which is sometimes but partly the case, the refraction
-of the solar rays is the most beautiful; and the appearance of those
-floating mountains on the side opposite the sun, presents such a blaze
-of light, intermingled with different glowing tints, as totally to
-baffle description. “Frost,” says the eloquent Pennant, “sports with
-these icebergs, and gives them majestic as well as other singular
-forms. Masses have been seen, assuming the shape of a Gothic church
-with arched windows and doors, and all the rich drapery of that style,
-composed of what an _Arabian_ tale would scarcely dare to relate, of
-crystal of the richest sapphirine blue; tables with one or more feet;
-and often immense flat roofed temples, like those of _Luxor_ on the
-_Nile_, supported by round transparent columns of cerulean hue, float
-by the astonished spectator.”
-
-I have not unfrequently seen floating masses of ice which had evidently
-been formed of drifted snow, since they wanted the compactness and
-solidity of those formed by the melting of the snows. Many of these
-contained trees, and (as there are no trees in Spitzbergen) must have
-been originally formed in the northern parts of Russia or America, and,
-being carried by the rapid rivers of these countries into the ocean,
-had drifted into these latitudes. These trees have often the appearance
-of being burnt at the ends; and Olafsen mentions, that the violent
-friction which they frequently experience, occasionally sets them on
-fire, and exhibits the extraordinary phenomenon of flame and smoke
-issuing from this frozen ocean.--_Malte-Brun_, tome v. 241.
-
-Between one and two o’clock this morning, I was much entertained by the
-sun darting his rays through the cabin windows.
-
-30th, Cast off from the iceberg, and endeavoured to force our way
-through the ice in a northern direction, till it became so thick and
-close around us, that we were forced to make fast to another large
-iceberg, where a small part of the surface of the water was free from
-ice.
-
-May 1st, In the morning, about twelve or one o’clock, the Garland was
-put upon the main-top-gallant stay by the last married man, as is usual
-among the Greenland ships. It is formed by the crossing of three small
-hoops in the form of a globe, and is covered with ribbons, &c. The
-crew on this occasion blacken their faces with a mixture of grease and
-soot, and dance round the decks, their chief musical instruments being
-frying-pans, mess-kettles, fire-irons, &c. This rough mode of festivity
-they continued till the Captain ordered them a plentiful allowance of
-grog. After regaling themselves with the very acceptable donation of
-their commander, they washed themselves, and began to coil away the
-boat lines, and prepare for the fishing. In every boat there is a line,
-720 fathoms long, to the end of which is fixed a harpoon about eight
-feet five inches long; the iron part is better than two feet long,
-and is extremely sharp. On each side of the point is placed a barb, or
-wither, diverging from the harpoon at an angle of nearly forty degrees,
-to prevent the instrument from flinching and losing its hold. There
-are also several lances, or spears, about six feet long, the points of
-which are about two inches broad: by these the whales are killed after
-being struck with the harpoons.
-
-A boat’s crew consists of a harpooner, a boat-steerer, a line-manager,
-and three or four men, more or less, according to the size of the boat.
-
-2d, Cast off, and made for a large iceberg, one mile to the east, to
-which we made fast, and were soon after closed in by the ice. This
-iceberg was twenty feet high, and mostly composed of fresh water ice.
-We had not been above two hours in this situation before a strong gale
-cleared away the ice, and we discovered South Cape in Spitzbergen,
-bearing north-east, distant thirty miles.
-
-May 3d, Sailed for Charles Island on the west coast of Spitzbergen, the
-most southern part of which is in latitude 78°.
-
-We were much impeded in our course by ice, which, according to the
-Greenland phrase, was very _rank_, around us. The ship struck
-occasionally on masses of considerable size, to the no little surprise
-of those sailors who were making their first voyage hither. We had
-this day a piece of fresh beef cooked for dinner, which we brought
-from England; it tasted as well, and was as full of juice as if newly
-killed: as did all the fowls which we got at Shetland: These were hung
-by the legs to a rope upon the quarter-deck; but neither plucked nor
-gutted. Our eggs likewise preserved their good taste. This proves the
-antiseptic power of intense cold.
-
-4th, Intense frost. Ice-bound, with several sail in company.
-
-5th, Strong gales. Unhung the rudder.
-
-6th, The ship towed through very rank ice, by four boats manned by half
-the crew. Ten sail in company.
-
-7th, Made fast to an iceberg about seventy yards long and forty broad,
-and about twenty feet above the surface of the water. It was very much
-furrowed, and, from its great depth, drifted but little, while the
-lesser fragments of ice were driven past it at the rate of about two
-knots an hour.
-
-I had this day a complete proof of the fallacy of the opinion, which
-maintained that salt water did not freeze. All around the ship, ice
-was formed on the surface of the water; I observed the spiculæ darting
-with considerable velocity, and in an immense variety of forms. This
-ice, when newly formed, is of a bay colour, and when it has attained
-the thickness of window glass is called by the sailors, _bay ice_. It
-is rough on the surface, and opaque; if the frost be not interrupted
-by a swell of the sea, or storm, the salt-water ice often extends to
-an immense distance. It is by the Greenland sailors termed a _field_,
-when of such extent that the eye cannot reach its bounds. The smaller
-fragments of salt-water ice are called _seal meadows_, and on them
-these animals often sport by hundreds.
-
-In storms large masses of ice are frequently piled on each other, to a
-considerable height; these are called _packs_, and often assume a very
-fantastic appearance. The grinding noise occasioned by the collision of
-those huge masses of ice against each other, and against the ship, not
-only fills the mind of the auditor with a degree of horror, but, for a
-considerable time, deprives him of the sense of hearing.
-
-Storms in those seas are so extremely dangerous, that the most powerful
-pens could convey but a faint representation of their horrific
-sublimity.-- The fury of the ocean is but the least of the enemies
-the sailor has to contend with. If the ship, during a storm, should be
-encircled by ice, there is hardly a possibility of avoiding impending
-fate.
-
-8th, Discovered the south point of Prince Charles’ Island, bearing
-east, distant six leagues.
-
-On the 11th, we made Fair Foreland, or Vogel Hook, the northern
-extremity of Charles’ Island and on the 13th, we reached the southern
-extremity of the westernmost cape, forming Cross-bay in Spitzbergen, at
-a short distance from which, we were made fast to a large iceberg.
-
-Spitzbergen is a general appellation given to a vast assemblage of
-frozen islands, lying between South Cape, in 76° 30´, and Verlegan
-Hook, in 80° 7´ north latitude. Its greatest breadth is from the
-westernmost part of Mauritius, or Amsterdam Island, called Hackluyt’s
-Headland, to the extreme east point of North-Eastland, comprising from
-9° to nearly 24° east longitude.
-
-The inhospitable nature of this frozen climate has prevented
-Spitzbergen from being properly explored. The best charts that have
-been published are extremely defective, and its larger divisions
-are but imperfectly defined. It could nowise interest the reader to
-peruse a dry catalogue of headlands or straits; and a few general
-observations may suffice to exhaust all that is interesting in its
-appearance.
-
-The general aspect of this gloomy and sterile country, affords a scene
-truly picturesque and sombre. The shores are rugged, bold and terrific,
-being in many places formed by lofty, black, inaccessible rocks, some
-of which taper to exceedingly high points, and are altogether bare, and
-almost destitute of vegetation. The entire face of the country exhibits
-a wild, dreary landscape, of amazingly high[9] sharp-pointed mountains,
-some of which rear their summits above the clouds, and are capped with
-strata of snow, probably coeval with the creation of the world.
-
- [9] The altitude of one near the Black Point, south end, was found, by
- the megameter, to be 1503 yards. Phipps’ _Voyages_, p. 87.
-
-    “So Zembla’s rocks (the beauteous work of frost,)
-    Rise white in air, and glitter o’er the coast:
-    Pale suns, unfelt, at distance roll away,
-    And on th’ impassive ice the lightnings play;
-    Eternal snows, the growing mass supply,
-    Till the bright mountains prop th’ incumbent sky;
-    As Atlas fix’d each hoary pile appears,
-    The gather’d winter of a thousand years.”
-
-The mountains of Spitzbergen have been observed, by voyagers, to
-decline in altitude towards the east; neither are the eastern mountains
-so black, steep, or naked, as those more to the west. This curious
-phenomenon is considered by some naturalists as a general law of
-nature. The mountains here are totally composed of one entire and
-single mass of granite. The only fissures discovered in their vast
-extent, are formed by the intensity of the frost rending them assunder.
-They burst with a noise like thunder, and often huge fragments are torn
-from the summits, and rolled with great impetuosity to the base.
-
-The glaciers are the most astonishing of all the natural phenomena
-of this county. It would only convey a faint representation of their
-size and magnificence, to say, that they far surpassed those of
-Switzerland. Travellers who have been in both countries, declare there
-is no comparison between them. Perhaps the most proper method to form
-a just conception of their magnitude, is by considering the size of
-the icebergs, which, as previously stated, are fragments of them.
-One of these masses, according to Phipps, has been found grounded in
-twenty-four fathoms water, while it towered above the surface to the
-height of fifty feet. Almost every valley can boast of its glacier,
-some of which vie with the mountains in height. They are occasionally
-hollow, and immense cascades of water are precipitated from them.
-
-The magnificence of this scene it is impossible to describe. The gloomy
-silence of the surrounding country, the hoarse noise of the water
-dashing from an immense height, and the magnificent effect produced by
-the reflection of the solar rays, form a _tout ensemble_ which can only
-be faintly conceived.
-
-Though the mountains of Spitzbergen consist generally of rocks of
-primary formation, it is not altogether destitute of those of a later
-origin. Captain Phipps discovered several species of marble, which
-dissolved readily in muriatic acid. On the east side of the country,
-potters’ clay and gypsum have been found, and different specimens of
-talc, mica, and lapis olearis, are to be met with. Phipps did not
-perceive any metallic ores in this country, nor, as far as I know, have
-other voyagers discovered any. The interior of the country, however,
-has been very little, if at all, explored, and it would therefore be
-wrong to conclude against their existence from this circumstance, more
-especially as they are said to be found in Greenland.
-
-Solid as the rocks of this barren country are, their disintegration has
-gone on to a considerable extent. The combined effects of cataracts,
-formed of melted snow, of frosts, and tempests, are at once perceived
-in the quantity of grit, or coarse sand, worn down from the mountains.
-This sterile substance, (the only thing among the rocks resembling
-soil,) is somewhat fertilized by the putrified _lichens_, and dung of
-wild birds.
-
-No fountains, or springs of fresh water, are to be found here; frost
-arrests the watery fluid in its course, and prevents it from ascending
-to the surface. The cascades falling from the glaciers, are solely
-formed of melted snow, and with this only the navigators can be
-supplied.
-
-This inhospitable climate is not entirely destitute of vegetation;
-some plants are found, which brave the rigour of perpetual frost,
-and convey some faint representation of a more southern country.
-They are generally short, crabbed, and have a wretched appearance.
-The _Salix herbacea_, (dwarf willow,) the most vigorous of them all,
-scarcely rises two inches from the ground. Among the few herbs, the
-_Cochlearia_, (scurvy grass,) deserves the first rank, as being the
-providential resource of distempered seamen. Here are also found
-several species of _Lichen_, (liverwort,) _Saxifraga_, _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, and sometimes mixed with
-shells. In Smeerenberg, which has a sandy bottom, vessels may ride in
-thirteen 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 irregularly, 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 has not been
-corroborated by the experience of subsequent voyagers. During my
-stay in this country, in 1806 and 1807, distinction between day and
-night was almost completely lost. Any perceptible difference between
-the splendour and radiance of the mid-day and mid-night sun, in
-clear weather, (if these expressions may be used,) arose only from a
-different degree of altitude. Some of our most experienced Greenland
-sailors, when called upon deck, have frequently asked me whether it
-was day or night; and I have often seen them obliged, even in clear
-sun-shine, to consult the quadrant on this head. I may add, that
-Captain Phipps has also contradicted Mr. Marten in the most positive
-manner.
-
-The temperature here is extremely fluctuating. Sometimes the heat is so
-great as to melt the pitch on the decks and cordage of the vessels, and
-in a few minutes after, succeed high winds, snow, and frost. The sky,
-even in calm and serene weather, is covered with dense white clouds,
-the repositories of the snow so often falling.
-
-The degree of heat experienced in these northern latitudes being
-so much greater than is experienced in the same latitudes in the
-southern hemisphere, is supposed to proceed from the greater quantity
-of land in the north reflecting the rays of the sun, which in the
-south are absorbed by the ocean. Whatever hypothesis may be adduced
-to account for the greater temperature of the north, the fact itself
-is indisputable. Terra del Fuego, situated only in fifty-five degrees
-south latitude, is extremely cold; and Captain Cook could not penetrate
-farther than the seventy-first degree of latitude, a distance far short
-of what the Greenland ships are every year in the habit of sailing
-towards the other Pole.
-
-Thunder and lightning are unknown at Spitzbergen, or at least are
-extremely rare. Forster supposes that the electric exhalations in a
-country so much covered with snow must be very few, and these so much
-consumed by the frequency of the _Aurora Borealis_, that there is
-never collected at one time a quantity of fluid sufficient to produce
-thunder and lightning. That luminous appearance, so often observed
-during a storm in this country, he alleges to be the effect of volcanic
-eruptions; though this, I confess, seems to me extremely problematical.
-Vid. Forster’s _Hist. Voyages_, p. 486.
-
-There is a great diversity among the accounts given by different
-travellers, of the forms assumed by the new fallen snow in this
-country. During hard frost, I always observed that the flakes closely
-resembled an asterisk with six points. As the temperature varied,
-their appearance was changed, which may, perhaps, serve to explain the
-differences alluded to.
-
-The one summer day of Spitzbergen continues from about the middle of
-May to the middle of October, when the sun bids a long adieu to this
-northern region. The horrors of winter are discovered, not alleviated,
-by the splendour of the _Aurora Borealis_, and the pale lustre of the
-moon.
-
-Here, says the energetic Thomson,--
-
-    “Here winter holds his unrejoicing court;
-    And through his airy hall the loud misrule
-    Of driving tempest is for ever heard;
-    Here the grim tyrant meditates his wrath,
-    Here arms his winds with all subduing frost;
-    Moulds his fierce hail, and treasures up his snows,
-    With which he now oppresses half the globe.”
-
-Spitzbergen has no settled inhabitants. It is, however, resorted to by
-parties of Russians, who, in turn, continue there throughout the year
-for the purpose of hunting, which they practise in all weathers. These
-hardy adventurers have erected huts adjacent to several of the harbours
-and bays, and are well provided with fuel, from the immense quantities
-of drifted wood that is every where to be found in the different
-creeks. Archangel supplies them with dried fish, rye-meal, and an
-abundant supply of whey, similar to, if not made in the same manner,
-as the Shetland beverage. This last constitutes their chief drink, and
-is likewise used in baking their bread. Their beds are principally
-composed of skins of the animals which they kill, and of these they
-also make garments, which they wear with the fur side next their
-bodies. The walrusses and seals afford them a plentiful store of their
-favourite delicacy, _train-oil_, and the bears, deers, and foxes, fall
-frequent victims to the dexterity of these excellent marksmen. They
-are at liberty to return to their native country towards the latter
-end of September, if not relieved by a fresh party before that time.
-Some of these Arctic hunters came on board our ship, and when set down
-to meat, they preferred a mess of biscuit and whale oil to all the
-dainties placed before them. Of this coarse repast they ate with a
-sufficiently healthful appetite, and in their own language pronounced
-it good. They had the complexion of Siberians, and were dressed in bear
-and deer skins. They had an athletic and vigorous appearance, though
-somewhat stiffened and cramped by the extreme cold to which they are
-exposed. During the time they were on board, and particularly while at
-meat, they behaved with a decorum and gentleness which could hardly be
-expected from their grotesque appearance: and the neatness of their
-fowling-pieces, boat-tackling, &c. manifested a taste and ingenuity of
-which the inhabitants of a more refined country need not be ashamed.
-
-The zoology is the only remaining subject of importance in the
-description of this country to be here considered. After giving an
-account of the bear, deer, and fox, I shall notice the seal and
-walrus, and conclude with describing a few of the birds. Afterwards
-I shall give a short history of its discovery; and then pursue the
-account of our voyage.
-
-The _Ursus maritimus_, or Polar bear, may with great propriety be
-termed the sovereign of the land animals of Spitzbergen, or even of the
-Arctic circle. Unlike the lion of Africa, his dominion is not confined
-solely to the land; for, by means of the ice, he extends his ravages
-far from any continent, and disputes the supremacy of the ocean with
-the walrus himself, even in his own element. Here, says the poet just
-quoted,
-
-                  ---- “The shapeless bear,
-    With dangling ice all horrid, stalks forlorn;
-    Slow pac’d, and sourer as the storms increase,
-    He makes his bed beneath the inclement drift,
-    And, with stern patience, scorning weak complaint,
-    Hardens his heart against assailing want.”
-
-The Polar bear is the largest of the species, and has frequently been
-found of an immense size. Barentz killed one thirteen feet in length,
-and it is asserted they have been found of a much larger size, but not
-on equally good authority. The one which Captain Phipps describes was
-only seven feet one inch long, and the largest we got on board did not
-exceed seven feet six inches; though we killed one apparently much
-larger, but a gale coming on, we were obliged to bear away, and leave
-it on the ice.
-
-The hair of this species is very long, woolly, and of a yellowish white
-colour. Its teeth lock into each other like those of a rat-trap, and
-are so remarkably strong and sharp, that it has been known to shiver
-lances made of steel. Its head is small, and a good deal elongated;
-nose black, and without hair; ears short, erect, and rounded; neck
-slender. Its limbs are of a vast thickness, and each foot is armed with
-five exceedingly strong black claws. The carcass of the one mentioned
-by Captain Phipps, though without the skin, head, and entrails, weighed
-610 lbs. The flesh is white, and though of a coarse texture, is prized
-by some as equally delicious with mutton, especially when boiled; for
-when roasted it is of an oily taste. The liver, it would seem, is of
-a poisonous nature, as some Dutch sailors who ate part of one were
-taken so extremely ill, that, after recovering, the skin all over their
-bodies fell off in scales.
-
-The fat makes good train oil, and that which is procured from the
-feet is sometimes used in medicine, and is commonly known by the name
-of bear’s grease. In some upwards of a hundred pounds of fat has
-been got; and Captain Fox is said to have killed one which yielded
-forty-eight gallons of oil. Forster’s _Hist. Voy._ p. 363.
-
-The skins are imported into Britain, chiefly for covering coach-boxes.
-In Greenland the inhabitants use the flesh and fat as food; and of the
-skins they make seats, boots, shoes, and gloves; the tendinous parts
-they split into fibres for the purpose of sewing.[10]
-
- [10] Fab. _Faun. Groenland._ edit. 1780, p. 24.
-
-The food of the Polar bears consists chiefly of fish, of seals which
-they seize when sleeping, and the carcasses of whales, walrusses,
-&c. so often found floating in the northern seas. On land they prey
-on the rein-deers, young birds, and eggs; and sometimes lay hold
-of the Arctic fox, notwithstanding all his stratagems in order to
-escape. Some naturalists have maintained that the Polar bear chiefly
-delighted in human flesh; this, however, is expressly contradicted by
-Fabricius, who, from his long residence in Greenland, must be allowed
-to be unexceptionable authority. It will not prey on man, says he,
-unless pressed by hunger, and it deserves to be mentioned, that the
-Greenlanders feign themselves dead when they wish to avoid the pursuit.
-It cannot, however, be denied, that, when attacked, or hungry, they
-are extremely dangerous to man. Many well authenticated instances
-are to be met with of the courage with which they have attacked the
-crews of boats, or even of ships. The following is one of the many:
-“A few years since, the crew of a boat belonging to a ship in the
-whale fishery, shot at a bear at a short distance, and wounded it. The
-animal immediately set up the most dreadful yells, and ran along the
-ice towards the boat. Before it reached it, a second shot was fired,
-and hit it. This served to increase its fury. It presently swam to the
-boat; and in attempting to get on board, reached its fore foot upon the
-gunwale; but one of the crew having a hatchet, cut it off. The animal
-still however, continued to swim after them, till they arrived at the
-ship, and several shots were fired at it, which also took effect; but
-on reaching the ship it immediately ascended the deck; and the crew
-having fled into the shrouds, it was pursuing them thither, when a shot
-from one of them laid it dead upon the deck.” Vid. Bewick’s _Hist.
-Quadrup._ 6th edit. p. 296.
-
-The walrus is the most dangerous enemy the bear has to contend with,
-and his immense tusks often give him a decided superiority. What the
-bear, however, wants in strength, he supplies by cunning, as he takes
-huge fragments of ice in his paws, and, dashing them against the head
-of the walrus, attacks and kills him after he is stunned by these
-blows. The one and the other often fall in this desperate fray.[11]
-
- [11] Fabr. _loc. cit._
-
-According to Fabricius, their time of parturition is in the winter, and
-their number of young at a birth seldom exceeds two. At this period, if
-on land, they make large dens in the snow; but they frequently bring
-forth in some of those vast caverns, so often found in the huge masses
-of _packed_ ice. Their attachment to their offspring is remarkably
-great. When mortally wounded, they will take their little cubs under
-their paws, embrace, and bemoan them with their latest breath.
-
-Polar bears are equally at home by land and by sea, where they swim
-with great strength and agility; they also dive, but cannot remain
-long under water. As if impatient of rest, they are frequently seen
-passing from one island of ice to another, and are often met with at a
-great distance from land. They are frequently drifted into Iceland and
-Norway, where, from the extreme hunger they suffer in their passage
-thither, they make dreadful ravages among the cattle, but are soon
-dispatched by the inhabitants, who rise in a body as soon as they learn
-that one of them has approached their shores. The government of Iceland
-encourages the destruction of these animals, by paying a premium of ten
-dollars for every bear that is killed.
-
-That these animals are possessed of considerable sagacity is evident
-from the account we have given of their combats with the walrus, and
-may be farther elucidated by the following fact:--The Captain wounded
-one in the side, and immediately the animal, as if conscious of the
-styptic nature of snow, covered the wound with it, and made off. We did
-not perceive any blood in its tract.
-
-The sight of the bear is rather defective, but its senses of smelling
-and hearing are very acute, and compensate for any feebleness in the
-other.
-
-Some writers have affirmed that Polar bears lie in a state of torpor
-through the long winter night, and appear only with the return of the
-sun; but this is denied by Fabricius, who says, they are equally on the
-hunt summer and winter.[12]
-
- [12] _Tam brumali, quam aestivo tempore occurrit extra praedans._ Fab.
- _loc. cit._
-
-The _Cervus tarandus_, or rein-deer, comes next in order. This useful
-and beautiful animal is found in every part of Spitzbergen. It has
-long, slender, branched horns, bending forwards, and palmated at the
-top, and broad palmated brow antlers.
-
-Its body is thick, and rather square; tail short; legs not so long as
-those of a stag; hoofs large, concave, and deeply cloven; hair very
-thick, and under the neck long and pendent: before the first coat
-is shed it is of a dark cinereous colour, but after that period it
-changes to white, except a large space round each eye, which is always
-black.[13] Some rein-deer are four feet six inches high; and a pair
-of their horns has been found which were three feet nine inches long,
-two feet six inches from tip to tip, and weighed nine pounds and three
-quarters. The horns of the females are less than those of the male, and
-not altogether of the same form. She has six teats, four of which only
-give milk.
-
- [13] _Hieme etiam barbam albam, ut hircus habet._ Fab. _de Cerv.
- Tarand_.
-
-The principal food of the rein-deer is the _lichen_ (or liverwort)
-which it frequently raises from below great depths of snow by means of
-its feet and antlers. The female goes about eight months with young,
-and seldom brings forth more than one at a time. Her attachment to her
-offspring is remarkably strong.
-
-The rein-deer species do not bound, but run with an even pace, and with
-considerable rapidity; in running, they make a clattering noise with
-their hoofs. They swim very well, crossing in their way narrow arms of
-the sea. Their senses of smelling and hearing are extremely acute; and
-it has been observed, that they are more cautious when in flocks, than
-when living in a solitary manner.
-
-The camel is not more useful to the Arabians, than the rein-deer to
-the Laplanders, and northern Asiatics; it, in fact, constitutes their
-whole riches; and on this valuable animal they may be said entirely to
-depend. An attention to rearing and preserving them, forms the sole
-business of their lives, and to that alone their agricultural economy
-is confined.
-
-    “The rein-deer forms their riches. These, their tents,
-    Their robes, their beds, and all their homely wealth,
-    Supply their wholesome fare, and cheerful cups:
-    Obsequious at their call, the docile tribe
-    Yield to the sled their necks, and whirl them swift
-    O’er hill and dale, heap’d into one expanse
-    Of marbled snow, as far as eye can sweep,
-    With a blue crust of ice unbounded glaz’d.”
-
-The _Canis lagopus_, or Arctic fox, is found in all parts of
-Spitzbergen. Its nose is sharp and black; eyes black, with yellow iris;
-ears short, erect, round, and almost hidden in the fur; legs short,
-with the toes furred like those of a hare; tail long and bushy. The
-male is generally larger than the female; but neither reach the size
-of the common British fox. In summer, its hair is of a greyish colour,
-which in winter changes to white, when it also becomes longer, softer,
-and a good deal thicker than it is in the former period.
-
-The Arctic fox is monogamous, and brings forth twice a year, in the
-months of March and June. It has several pups at a time.
-
-This species feeds chiefly on young water fowl and eggs, and when very
-hungry, will eat any kind of shell or other fish. In the northern
-parts of Asia, and in Lapland, they prey on the _lemming_, or _Lapland
-marmont_, (_Mus Alpinus_,) which are often seen there in surprising
-numbers.
-
-They generally burrow in the ground, but in Spitzbergen and Greenland,
-where the intensity of the frost renders this impracticable, they lie
-in caverns, and in the cliffs of rocks, two or three together. They
-are so remarkably hardy, that the most rigorous severity of winter in
-these regions, never stops their search of prey. They are excellent
-swimmers, and are often seen passing from one island to another,
-especially at the time when bird-nests are to be found. Some zoologists
-have affirmed, that they are harmless, simple, and easily taken; but
-Fabricius assures us that they possess all the wildness and cunning
-of the _vulpes_, or fox of these kingdoms. Fabricius says, the Arctic
-fox has three different kinds of voices[14]. Its smell is not so
-fetid as that of the common fox. Its flesh is not only eaten by the
-Greenlanders, but some voyagers have esteemed it as being good food.
-Vid. _Phipps_, p. 184.
-
- [14] _Vocem habet triplicem: esurientis ejulando: coire volenti
- clamando, periclitantis murmurando._
-
-Their skins are of little value in traffic, especially the white furred
-ones, as the fur easily comes off.
-
-It was formerly supposed that there were two species of Arctic foxes,
-but this is denied by Fabricius on very satisfactory grounds.
-
-These three quadrupeds constitute the entire of that great division of
-animals which belong to Spitzbergen. In warmer climes, the species are
-more numerous; but the individual animals do not there seem to possess
-more vigour or animation than these are imbued with. The climate of
-Spitzbergen being an extreme of cold, the animals of a more genial
-country cannot exist there. These species are indigenous to the regions
-of frost; cold is their element, and in it alone they thrive.
-
-The amphibious animals come next in order; and as the accounts of them,
-given by different voyagers and naturalists are extremely confused, I
-have been more circumstantial than would otherwise have been necessary.
-
-The _Phocæ_[15] are the most numerous class of animals which frequent
-Spitzbergen, where they are found in vast numbers. Though the specific
-characters of each particular tribe are distinctly marked, their
-general resemblance is, upon the whole, so very striking, that the
-following observations may be applied to them all indiscriminately. In
-the scale of nature, the Phocæ hold an intermediate station between
-amphibia and perfect fish; but nearer the latter than the former. The
-organization of other amphibious animals, such as the beaver, castor,
-otter, &c. fits them better for living on the land than the water. In
-this genus the contrary takes place. The arms and legs of the Phocæ,
-(if we may employ these terms,) are wholly enveloped in the flesh of
-the animal, the hands and feet being alone protruded; these too are
-webbed, and are instruments evidently more calculated for swimming than
-moving on land.
-
- [15] Under this general appellation, I include the seal, walrus or
- morse, dugon, &c.
-
-This unaptness of organization is strongly displayed in the painful
-motion of the animal, which, from the shortness of its legs, has to
-rest at every step on its belly, until it prepares for a new advance.
-Its agility, considering these defects, is indeed astonishing, and is
-certainly the effect of great exertion.
-
-The eloquent and ingenious Buffon was of opinion that the Phocæ
-approached to fish by a still more decisive criterion. “They are the
-only animals,” says he, “which have the _foramen ovale_ open, and which
-can therefore live without respiring, and to whom water is as proper
-and suitable an element as air.” Theoretic views appear to have here
-led this excellent writer into an error, as it is now well known that
-the Phocæ cannot remain long in the water without coming to the surface
-to breathe.
-
-The _Phoca vitulina_, by the English termed _seal_, and by the French,
-_phoque_, is the most common species of those animals in the north, and
-is dispersed with some variety throughout the rest of the ocean. Its
-head is large and flat; the teeth strong, and so sharp that I have seen
-it bite in two the handspikes with which the men were attempting to
-kill it; the tongue is forked; and it is well furnished with whiskers
-around the mouth; has almost no external appearance of ears, but merely
-an aperture to convey the sound to the _sensorium_; the eyes are small,
-and have a haggard appearance; the neck thickens as it approaches
-the shoulder, the thickest part of the animal; from whence the body
-gradually tapers in a cylindrical form, to the extremity, where the
-hind legs are placed, between which is a very short tail; the fore paws
-consist of five fingers, joined together by a membrane, and furnished
-with very strong cylindrical nails; the hind paws are formed in the
-same way, except that the fingers are longer than in the fore paws, and
-that the shortest of them are in the middle, and the longest on the
-outside of the paw. The length of an ordinary full grown seal is about
-seven or eight feet; and its thickness at the shoulder four or five.
-It is covered with short coarse thick hair, which varies in its colour
-with the different ages of the animal.
-
-The flesh of the seal is of a reddish colour, and is, by the
-Greenlanders, accounted excellent food. Our sailors esteemed the
-entrails of a young one which they dressed, as equal to those of a hog.
-A seal will yield about twelve or fourteen gallons of good oil; their
-skins are very valuable, serving for covers to trunks, vests, &c. and
-are now used to a very considerable extent in the manufacture of shoes.
-The Greenlanders, who depend almost entirely for subsistence on this
-animal, make their boots, and other articles of dress, as well as the
-inside of their huts, of its skin.
-
-The seal is a gregarious and polygamous animal. It is never met with at
-a great distance from land, but frequents the bays and seas adjacent
-to the shore. It feeds promiscuously on most sorts of small fish, but
-chiefly on the spawn of the salmon.
-
-Fabricius differs from both Buffon and Pennant in asserting, that
-the seal brings forth but one at a time, while they maintain that it
-brings forth two.[16] At the time of parturition, it comes on shore,
-and suckles its young there for about six weeks before it takes them to
-the water, where it instructs them in swimming. Though naturally timid,
-the female defends her young with great boldness and spirit; on other
-occasions they generally place their safety in flight; but I have
-sometimes seen them throw back stones and pieces of ice on the sailors
-who pursued them.
-
- [16] Perhaps Pliny has hit the truth, “_Parit nunquam geminis
- plures_.” _Nat. Hist._ lib. 9. § 13.
-
-Seals delight to lie upon the ice, or on the shore, exposed to the
-sun[17]; they there sleep very profoundly, and fall an easy prey to the
-sailors, who dispatch them by a blow on the nose.
-
- [17] _Sternunt se somno diversæ in littore Phocæ._ Georg. lib. 4.
-
-Their voice has been not unaptly compared by Buffon to the barking of a
-hoarse dog; when attacked, they make a more doleful kind of noise.
-
-Pliny expressly states this animal to be of a docile and tractable
-nature, and in this he is supported by the more enlarged experience of
-modern times. The seal described by Dr. Parsons[18] was taught to come
-out of his tub, and return to the water at the command of its keeper,
-to stretch out its neck to kiss him, and to perform several other
-motions.
-
- [18] Pennant’s _Quadrupeds_, vol. ii. p. 272.
-
-Seals have a very delicate sense of hearing, and are very much
-delighted with music. The Captain’s son, who was a good performer on
-the violin, never failed to have a numerous auditory, when we were
-in the seas frequented by those animals; and I have seen them follow
-the ship for miles when any person was playing on deck. This fact was
-observed by the ancient poets[19], and is thus alluded to by Sir
-Walter Scott, in one of his poems:
-
-    “Rude Heiskar’s seals, through surges dark,
-    Will long pursue the minstrel’s bark.”
-
- [19] _Apol. Rhod._ lib. 1. _Val. Flac._ lib. 5: lin. 440. _Gaudebant
- armine Phocæ._
-
-These animals, in swimming, _constantly keep the head_, and often the
-whole body, as far as the shoulder, above the surface of the water. The
-first I saw was at a considerable distance, and might easily have been
-mistaken for a man, though it was much liker a dog.
-
-Buffon has already remarked, that this animal had given a foundation to
-the poetic fiction of the Nereids in antiquity; and perhaps we may add,
-to the no less fictitious mermaids of modern times.
-
-The Arctic walrus, or _Trichechus rosmarus_ of Linnæus, the other great
-variety of the Phocæ, frequents the bays and shores of Spitzbergen in
-vast numbers, though they are not now found in such quantities as when
-the Europeans first navigated these seas. The walrus is considerably
-larger than the seal, being sometimes found eighteen feet long, and
-twelve round, where thickest[20]. Their characteristic difference,
-however, consists in the walrus having two very large tusks, or horns,
-like the elephant’s, projecting from his upper jaw. These are sometimes
-found of an extraordinary size, from two to three feet in length, and
-weighing twenty pounds. The tusks of the Spitzbergen walrus seldom
-attain this size, because there the animal is generally killed before
-attaining its full growth. It is only on the northern coast of Asiatic
-Russia, or where they are not molested by hunters, that such tusks are
-found.
-
-[20] The largest we caught was only thirteen feet long and seven round.
-
-With the exception of the tusks, the form of the walrus does not
-differ materially from that of the seal. Head round, with a short
-nose; mouth small, with strong bristles; small red eyes; short neck;
-colour variable; rest of the body similar to the seal; but its toes,
-especially in the hind feet, are much stronger.
-
-The walrus is monogamous but in other respects its habits are nearly
-the same with those of the seal. It brings forth its young in the same
-manner, preys on the same kinds of fish, and, like the seal, ascends
-the ice, (more rarely the land,) to bask in the sun.
-
-The walrus is a very valuable animal, yielding frequently half a tun of
-oil, equally valuable with that of the whale. The tusks are said to be
-more valuable than those of the elephant, as being more compact and
-hard, and consequently taking a finer polish: the skin, which is nearly
-an inch thick, is used to cover the masts or yards of ships, where
-they cross each other, to prevent their being injured by the friction.
-It was formerly cut into ropes; and Buffon mentions its being used at
-Paris in the springs of carriages.
-
-The walrus becomes very furious when attacked, and the whole herd join
-to revenge any injury an individual may have received. If wounded
-in the water, they will sometimes surround the boat, and attempt to
-sink her, by striking their tusks against her sides and bottom. Their
-combats with the bear, their most dangerous enemy among the lower
-animals, have been already described.[21]
-
- [21] This account is conformable to that given by the greatest number
- of writers, but Fabricius seems to be of a different opinion as to
- the ferocity of the walrus. “_Improviso vulneratus infeslat; venatore
- autem præviso fugit._” Faun. Groenl. p. 5.
-
-The water and air round Spitzbergen abound more with inhabitants than
-the land; the fish are perhaps not more numerous than the birds, which
-are there seen in thousands: of these I shall only describe a few of
-the most curious species.
-
-The _Procellaria glacialis_ or _Mallemukke_ of the Dutch, is found in
-very great abundance in the seas of Spitzbergen, especially in the
-whale-fishing season.--Bill yellow and strong; neck, tail, and under
-part of the body, white; back, and coverts of the wings, ash; primaries
-dusky; legs straw-colour.
-
-The bird is carnivorous, and feeds on the blubber of cetaceous fish,
-and on other dead carcasses floating in the sea. They are often seen
-following whales, especially wounded ones, on whom they pounce at every
-time of their rising to breathe, and tear the blubber from their back.
-As soon as the carcass of a whale is sent adrift after the blubber is
-taken off, it is covered over with these voracious birds, who then make
-a loud worrying noise. When a fish is alongside the ship, they surround
-it in vast numbers, and are so eager of their prey, that they suffer
-themselves to be caught with the hand, and may be knocked down easily
-by those on the whale, or in the boats.
-
-Though extremely fetid, the Greenlanders account the flesh of the
-Mallemukke good food, and eat it either raw or dressed. The fat they
-burn in lamps.
-
-When caught, the Mallemukke not only attacks with its bill, but spurts
-the blubber out of its mouth and nostrils in the face of its captor.
-Their flight is a kind of race along the surface of the water. They
-build their nests on rugged precipices, and at other times seldom come
-to land.
-
-_Larus parasiticus_, or Artic Gull. Bill dusky, and much curved at the
-end; crown black; back, wings, and tail, dusky; the rest white. The two
-middle feathers of the tail are three or four inches longer than the
-rest. The female is altogether brown. Length about fourteen inches.
-
-The Artic gull lives almost solely on the fish taken by other birds; to
-obtain which, it follows and harasses them till they either drop their
-prey, or vomit with fear; it then devours the residue before it falls
-into the sea.[22] The Artic gull is frequently taken sleeping on the
-water.
-
- [22] _Faun. Groenl._ p. 104.
-
-_Anas mollissima_, or Eider Duck, is sometimes found on the coast of
-Spitzbergen in vast numbers, especially in winter. Bill black, and
-somewhat elevated; from the forehead, which is a glossy black, extends
-a dark purple stripe beyond each eye: neck, body, and tail, a mixture
-of black and white; legs green. The body of the female is mostly of an
-iron colour, striped with black; tail of an ash hue.
-
-This species is about twice the size of the common domesticated duck,
-and its body is covered over with a thick coat of valuable down.
-
-_Colymbus glacialis_, or Great Northern Diver.
-
-Head and neck black; throat and hind part of the neck marked with a
-semilunar spot of white, and with white streaks, varied with white
-spots; upper part of the body and wings black, varied with white spots;
-tail duskish; legs black. Some of them are found three feet five inches
-long, and weigh sixteen lbs.
-
-It makes its nest in the most remote parts of the North, in the islets
-of fresh water lakes. Each pair possesses a lake. Its sight is keen,
-flies well, and, darting obliquely, drops safely into its nest. When
-pursued, it saves itself by diving; but when it has young ones, it does
-not make its escape, but strives to beat off its enemy with its bill.
-
-_Emberiza nivalis_, or Snow Bunting, is found in vast numbers at
-Spitzbergen, and as it is graminivorous, its frequenting a country
-so ill provided with vegetables, has justly been regarded as a very
-surprising phenomenon. It is not a large bird, and its colour varies
-with the season of the year.
-
-As it does not seem necessary to notice the few insects which belong
-to Spitzbergen, some short account of its discovery is all that now
-remains for us to treat of regarding it.
-
-The progress of discovery towards the North has been extremely slow.
-The ancients possessed no accurate knowledge of the countries north
-of the Rhine, though they made voyages a considerable way beyond that
-barrier. The accounts of the Hyperborei, as given by Pomponius Mela
-and Pliny, two geographical writers of great reputation, are perfectly
-fabulous, and afford an incontrovertible proof of the total ignorance
-they were in respecting the country they pretended to describe. During
-the long period of the decline and fall of the Roman empire, the
-desire of discovering foreign countries, like other liberal pursuits,
-had totally subsided. In the fifteenth century, however, men awakened
-from their lethargy, and the voyages of _Columbus_ and _Vasco de Gama_
-constitute one of the most important epochs in the history of the human
-race. The spirit of adventure was aroused, and voyagers boldly ventured
-into hitherto unexplored seas. The English and Dutch navigators of
-the sixteenth century, envying the glory and wealth acquired by the
-Portuguese in their voyages to India by the Cape of Good Hope, were
-seized with the same spirit of adventure, and were fired with the hopes
-of opening a new route to those regions, by sailing round the north
-of Europe and Asia. Though these expectations were disappointed, yet
-to this stimulus the great discoveries made in the North are to be
-principally ascribed.
-
-The honour of the discovery of Spitzbergen has been long contested
-between the English and the Dutch. The former claim it from Sir Hugh
-Willoughby’s pretended view of it in 1553; but the land seen by him
-being in latitude 72°, could not be any part of Spitzbergen, which
-extends no farther south than 76° 30´. Some writers have supposed, that
-if what Sir Hugh saw was not a fog bank, it must have been either the
-island of Jan Mayen, or some part of Greenland; while others allege,
-that it was either Nova Zembla, or the island of Kolgow. The English
-historians have likewise honoured Stephen Burrows with the title of
-second discoverer of this country in 1556, though he never advanced
-farther in these seas than the latitude of 70° 42´. The priority
-of this discovery indubitably belongs to the Dutch, who, under the
-pilotage of William Barentz, in 1596, not only discovered, but landed
-on some of the northernmost islands (in lat. 80°) by them named
-Spitzbergen, or Sharp Mountains.
-
-Barentz, as already observed, in the same voyage discovered Cherry
-Island, which was by him called Bear Island; but changed its
-appellation in 1603, when it was discovered by a ship belonging to Sir
-Francis Cherry of London.
-
-The English began the whale fishery at Spitzbergen immediately after
-its discovery by Barentz. The nation soon became sensible of the
-advantages to be derived from this trade, and Parliament gave premiums
-to the different adventurers. They had a formidable rival to contend
-with in the Dutch, who long were successful competitors with the
-English in this traffic[23].
-
- [23] The Dutch, in the space of forty-six years caught 32,900 whales,
- the oil and whalebone of which sold for about £15,800,000. Malte Brun,
- tom. v. 298.
-
-In Spitzbergen as well as in Jan Mayen, sailors have been frequently
-left till winter, from the same motives, and have generally met with
-the same fate; some, however, have been more fortunate, and have braved
-all the rigours of this inhospitable climate. In 1630, eight Englishmen
-were left here by accident, and, overcoming all the difficulties
-they were exposed to, by their ingenuity, were next summer found in
-good health. In 1743, four Russians were left here, and were not
-relieved till 1749, when three of the number were found alive, who had
-exhausted, as Pennant observes, all the ingenious contrivances related
-of Robinson Crusoe.
-
-It is now time to continue the account of the remainder of our voyage,
-together with the whale-fishing, the great object for which voyages are
-made to this country.
-
-Having made fast to an Iceberg on the 13th, as before remarked, near
-the south-west promontory of Cross Bay, we continued in that situation
-during the 14th, making all the necessary preparations for the
-fishing, and on the 15th we sailed about ten leagues from the shore
-in a westerly direction, making about one point towards the south. It
-blew this day a brisk gale from the east, which was intolerably cold;
-the wind at that time passes over large fields of ice, and in that
-climate, is _comparatively_ as noxious as it is in Britain. During a
-fresh easterly breeze, I have found the cold in the cabin so intense,
-that, notwithstanding we had a good fire and warm clothing, I have
-been obliged to put on furred gloves to enable me to hold a book. We
-this day killed several seals, and might have got many more, but they
-are not of much use unless the vessel be fitted out for their fishing
-only. This day we made fast to a large iceberg, and the latitude, by
-observation, was nearly 79°.
-
-16th, We were almost encompassed by ice, and remained in the same
-situation as before.
-
-17th, Remarkably warm. The men were forced to strip in warping the
-ship, sallying, &c. In warping, the men move from side to side in the
-boats, to break the _bay ice_, and, in sallying, they run from the
-one side of the vessel to the other, according to the motion, and the
-command of the person who takes the lead; this facilitates the motion
-of the ship through the ice. The thermometer this day stood at 41° in
-the cabin _without fire_. Being exposed to the sun on deck, it got up
-to 66°, where it remained stationary. On being hung in the shade, it
-fell to the freezing point.
-
-18th, Continued forcing our way slowly through bay ice; almost no
-wind. In sultry days, and, indeed, in all weathers, navigators are
-much harassed in those seas by the fogs; they, however, chiefly occur
-towards the latter end of summer. They are excessively dense, and at
-a distance are frequently mistaken for land. In winter, when the cold
-is intense, a vapour called _fog smoke_ frequently arises from the
-chinks of the ice, which is so acrid as to excoriate the face and hands
-of those who approach it. We this day observed a _fog bank_, a little
-to the north-east, which at first we mistook for Hackluyt’s Headland,
-from which, however, we were then at a considerable distance. The edges
-of these _fog banks_ are so well defined, that the most experienced
-sailors often fall into such mistakes.
-
-20th, Latitude by observation 79° 50´. Sea clear of ice, with a smart
-easterly breeze. In this parallel of latitude we ran 12° to the west in
-eighteen hours. This will not appear surprising on considering that a
-degree of longitude in this parallel is little more than ten miles.
-
-21st, Fell in with a dead fish. This whale had been killed for a
-considerable time, and was entirely covered with Mallemukkes, and
-other voracious birds. At a distance it resembled a floating mass of
-feathers, but on our approaching it, we were almost stunned by the
-quarrelling noise of these _Harpies_. We brought it alongside and
-stripped it of its remaining blubber.
-
-22d, After having stripped off the blubber, we sailed north-east; the
-sea was clear of ice, and the weather serene. A distant view of the
-icebergs reflecting the rays of the sun, added an inexpressible beauty
-and grandeur to the scene. They had all the appearance of illuminated
-Gothic castles, and realized the magnificence of fairy scenes.
-
-23d, Killed a large whale. This animal, the largest with which men
-are as yet acquainted, is of that genus of fish termed cetaceous.
-Some classifiers of animals, because the cetaceous fish breathe by
-lungs, and not gills, and because they suckle their young, have, by a
-learned and laughable absurdity, ranked them among _quadrupeds_. It
-is needless, however, to say, that they want the distinguishing and
-decisive characteristics of quadrupeds; and hence, though they may
-correspond with them in some respects, they should assuredly be held to
-be of a different race.
-
-The common whale, called by Linnæus _Balæna mysticetus_, has, it
-is affirmed, been sometimes found 160 feet long. In the seas of
-Spitzbergen and Greenland, however, whales now seldom reach 70 feet,
-being generally killed before they arrive at full growth. Head of
-a triangular shape, and nearly one-third of the size of the fish;
-under-lip much broader than the upper. Have no teeth, but merely laminæ
-in the upper jaw, similar to those found in the bill of a duck, but
-more closely set together, and of a black colour. Tongue, in ordinary
-sized whales, about 18 or 20 feet long; consists of a soft spongy fat,
-and frequently yields five or six barrels of oil. That article in
-commerce, commonly known by the name of _whalebone_, is found adhering
-to the upper jaw, in thin parallel laminæ, usually measuring from
-3 to 10 or 12 feet in length; of these there are generally 200 on
-each side, which are fit for use. The breadth of the largest, at the
-thick end, where they are attached to the jaw, is about a foot. When
-the longest of these laminæ measures six feet, the whale is called
-a payable or size fish; for every one of which that is caught, the
-captain generally gets three guineas, the surgeon one, the carpenter
-one, &c. The whalebone is covered with long hair like that of a horse,
-which not only preserves the tongue from being hurt, but prevents their
-food from being returned when they eject the water from their mouths.
-The throat is not more than three or four inches wide; eyes and ears
-small. In the middle of the head are two orifices, commonly: called
-_blow holes_, through which they eject water to a great height. No
-dorsal fin; a large one under each eye. Body tapers gradually towards
-the tail, which is often above twenty feet broad, semilunar, and
-horizontal in respect to the body. Female larger than the male; her
-teats placed in the lower part of the belly.
-
-The colour of the whale varies with its age; the back of some being
-black, of others black and white, and some are all white; under jaw and
-belly generally white, whatever may be their age. Some old whales have
-a broad white strip over their back down to the belly.
-
-Their skin is smooth, lubricated, and about one inch thick. I had a
-book bound with some of the epidermis, or scarf-skin, which I brought
-home, but it did not altogether answer the purpose.
-
-Their bodies, immediately under the skin, are covered with a layer
-of fat, called _blubber_, from 12 to 18 inches thick in large fish.
-This, in young whales, resembles hog’s lard; but in old ones it is of
-a reddish colour. A large whale will produce 12, 20, and sometimes 25
-tuns of oil, which now sells at from £30 to £40 per tun.
-
-Mr. Scoresby, jun. in a description of the _Balæna mysticetus_,
-published in the memoirs of the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh, gives
-the following table of the ordinary quantity of oil produced from
-whales of different sizes of bones:
-
-  Bone in feet.  Oil in tuns.
-   1                 1½
-   2                 3
-   3                 3½
-   4                 4
-   5                 4½
-   6                 5½
-   7                 7
-   8                 9
-   9                11
-  10                13
-  11                16
-  12                20
-
-“The blubber of a sucker,” Mr. Scoresby observes, “when very young,
-frequently contains little or no oil, but only a kind of milky fluid;
-in which case, when the animal is deprived of life, the body sinks to
-the bottom, as also does the blubber when separated from it; while
-the body and blubber of larger individuals always swim. Though the
-preceding statement be exceedingly near the truth, yet exceptions
-occur; for I have known a whale of 2½ feet bone produce 10 tuns
-of oil, and one of 12 feet bone estimated at only 9 tuns; but such
-instances are much rarer than to see one of 2½ feet bone produce 4
-or five tuns of oil.”
-
-The _Balæna mysticetus_, according to Marten and other North Sea
-voyagers, feeds chiefly upon a species of _vermes_, called _Clio
-limacina_, or Sea May Fly,[24] which are found in surprising numbers
-throughout the Arctic seas. According to Fabricius, the principal food
-of the whale consists of two different species of sea insects;[25]
-while Linnæus maintains that they live chiefly on the _Medusa
-capillata_, or sea blubber. This last substance, commonly called by
-Greenlandmen _whale’s meat_, resembles frog-spawn, and is frequently
-seen floating on the surface of the Northern seas.
-
- [24] Phipps, p. 195.
-
- [25] _Cancer pedatus et oculatus._ Faun. Groenl. p. 33.
-
-Mr. Scoresby says, “that he has good reason to believe that the whale
-feeds chiefly, if not altogether, on the _squillæ_ or shrimp tribe;
-for, on examining the stomach of one of large size, nothing else was
-found in it; they were about half an inch long, semi-transparent, and
-of a pale red colour.--I also found a great quantity in the mouth of
-another, having been apparently vomited by it. When the whale feeds,
-it swims with considerable velocity under water, with its mouth wide
-open; the water enters by the fore part, but is poured out again at
-the sides, and the food is entangled and sifted as it were by the
-whalebone, which does not allow any thing to escape.”
-
-Their time of parturition is in April, and though they are said to
-bring forth two young ones at a time,[26] yet I never saw more than
-one along with such as we killed. Fabricius says, that, for the most
-part, they bring forth but one.[27] The female is frequently taken when
-endeavouring to save her young one, which is generally killed first by
-way of stratagem. She then strives to take it away under her fins; but,
-in the midst of these efforts, being overtaken by the boats, she falls
-a victim to her maternal affection.
-
- [26] Br. Zool. Edit. 1769, vol. iii. p. 37.
-
- [27] Faun. Groenl. loc. cit.
-
-The female, during pregnancy, which is about nine or ten months, is
-very fat; and the cub, when excluded, is black, and about ten feet
-long. It continues at the breast for a year. To suckle her young, the
-mother throws herself upon one side on the surface of the water; she is
-frequently seen carrying it on her back, and when she has occasion to
-go to the bottom, takes it with her under one of her fins.
-
-Whalebone was formerly an article of great value in commerce, and
-at one time sold for £600 per ton. It is not now, however, worth a
-twentieth part of that sum, and is not an object of any attention to
-the whale fishers. We may remark, that, by an old feudal law, the
-_tail_ of all whales belonged to the Queen,[28] as a perquisite to
-furnish her Majesty’s wardrobe with whalebone. A strong proof of the
-ignorance that had at that time prevailed respecting this animal.
-
- [28] Blackstone, vol. i. p. 223. Edit. 1783.
-
-The flesh of the whale is variously prepared by the Greenlanders, and
-is used either when newly catched, or when sub-putrid. The skin, tail,
-and fins, they eat raw; the blubber is used either as food, or in
-lamps; they dress the intestines like those of the seal. The tendons
-serve them as thread for nets. The bones serve as timber for roofing
-their houses, and other domestic purposes; and fishing-rods of the best
-quality are made from the whalebone.[29]
-
- [29] Compare Fab. de Bal. Myst. with Arrian, Hist. Ind. § 29 and 30.
-
-The common whale, notwithstanding its magnitude, swims with surprising
-agility, and generally against the wind. The flat position of its tail
-enables it to ascend suddenly to the surface of the water to breathe,
-which it is frequently obliged to do. Whales are very harmless and
-timid; but, when attacked, frequently strike the boats a dangerous
-blow with their tails, in which their greatest strength lies. About
-midsummer, when they begin to couple, they are very wild, and difficult
-to catch, unless harpooned during copulation,[30] or when found
-sleeping on the water.
-
- [30] _Congreditur corpore erecto, capite supra aquam prominente._
- Faun. Groenl. loc. cit.
-
-Their fidelity to each other is said to be very great. Anderson tells
-us, that having struck one of two whales, a male and female, that were
-in company, the wounded fish made a long and terrible resistance; it
-struck down a boat with three men in it, with a single blow of the
-tail, by which all went to the bottom: The other fish attended its
-companion, and lent it every assistance, till, at last, the fish that
-was struck, sunk under the number of its wounds; while its faithful
-associate, disdaining to survive the loss, stretched itself upon the
-dead fish, and shared its fate.
-
-The ancients were not unacquainted with the _Balæna mysticetus_,
-though they do not seem to have had any knowledge of its uses. Their
-acquaintance with the spermaceti whale, found in the Indian ocean, was
-somewhat more accurate. It is interesting to observe, in the account of
-Nearchus’s Voyage, as given by Arrian,[31] the terror of the sailors
-when they first perceived the blowing of these animals. As soon as this
-ancient navigator had successfully conducted his fleet past a single
-whale, he received an applause equal to what he could have expected had
-he vanquished an enemy’s fleet.
-
- [31] _Hist. Ind._ § 29 _and_ 30.
-
-Whenever a whale is seen from the ship, one or more boats are sent in
-pursuit; and if they get close to it, the harpooner strikes it with
-his harpoon; but should the boat not get near enough for this purpose,
-he heaves the harpoon at the whale with great skill. As soon as the
-animal finds itself wounded, it descends, dragging the line fastened
-to the harpoon after it with such velocity, that one of the crew is
-constantly obliged to pour water on the stem of the boat, to prevent
-its taking fire by the intense friction of the line. A hatchet is
-always at hand to cut the line, should it chance to get entangled.
-A large whale will sometimes run out the lines of two boats.[32] As
-soon as a whale is _struck_, they hoist a flag, or _jack_, in the
-boat, which being seen by the ship, the crew all run about the decks
-crying “_A fall, A fall_;” as much as to say, “_He’s fast, He’s fast._”
-Immediately all hands, except a few to take care of the ship, get into
-the boats with great expedition, and repair to the place where they
-expect the whale will rise to breathe. When it appears, they strike it
-again, and so on till there are sometimes three or four harpoons fast.
-When the whale becomes fatigued, and is severely wounded, it throws up
-water mixed with blood, and immediately the whole boats surround the
-groaning monster, and dispatch it with their spears. At this moment,
-the sea, to a considerable distance, looks as if tinged with vermilion.
-In dying, the noise occasioned by the whale’s lashing the water with
-its tail and fins, is heard to a very great distance.
-
- [32] Fifteen hundred fathoms.
-
-As soon as a whale is killed, it is towed by the boats to the ship, and
-being made fast by tackles placed at the nose and tail, is immediately
-stripped of its blubber. This process is by Greenland sailors termed
-_flinching_, and is very speedily performed. The harpooners and their
-assistants cut the blubber into long stripes, which are hoisted into
-the ship, cut into smaller pieces, and thrown into the hold, from
-whence they are again brought upon deck to be pared and barrelled up.
-In _flinching_, the whale is turned round by a tackle made fast to the
-fins.
-
-The process of paring and barrelling up the blubber, is termed _making
-off_, and is performed at leisure times when the crew are not engaged
-in the pursuit of live whales. The blubber being brought upon deck,
-the fleshy parts are pared off, and it is then placed, piece by piece,
-on a block, having three iron spikes in the top to keep it steady;
-here it is skinned by a harpooner, and is then ready for _chopping_.
-This operation is performed by the boat-steerers, who cut the blubber
-into pieces of about one foot long, and three inches square at the
-ends. When it is _chopped_ they push it off the bench into the _speck
-trough_, placed by the side of the hatchway, having what is called a
-_lull bag_ attached to a hole in the bottom for the purpose of letting
-down the _chopped_ blubber to a tub in the hold. The blubber is
-afterwards put, piece by piece, into the bung-hole of the casks, which
-are all fixed for that purpose previous to the vessel’s leaving home.
-
-The _Balæna mysticetus_, notwithstanding its immense size, is exposed
-to the multiplied assaults of various enemies inhabiting its own
-element. Of these, the most dangerous is said to be the _Physeter
-microps_, or Black-headed Spermaceti Whale. The voracity of this
-species is very great. Its ordinary food is the seal; but if it does
-not find a sufficient quantity of them for its prey, it attacks the
-common whale, and even the shark, and tears them to pieces. The Sea
-Unicorn, or _Monodon monoceros_, is another of the whale’s enemies; and
-it is said that they never meet without engaging in combat. Its immense
-tusk, or horn, generally gives it a superiority over the whale. Marten
-gives an account of a combat between the Saw-Fish, _Squalus pristis_,
-and the Iceland whale, to which he was an eye witness. It was extremely
-dangerous to approach the field of battle, and his observations were
-therefore made at a distance. The water was greatly agitated, and rose
-to an immense height, accompanied with a noise that stunned the ears
-of the hearers. A fog coming on prevented Marten from ascertaining the
-result of this direful combat; but he was informed by the sailors that
-the whale was generally vanquished; and that they kept aloof till such
-time as the saw-fish, eating the tongue, relinquished the carcass,
-which they made their prey.
-
-A species of crab, vulgarly called the whale-louse, the _Oniscus
-ceti_ of Fabricius, if not the most dangerous, is perhaps the most
-troublesome of the whale’s enemies. We scarcely took any whales but
-had one or two of these vermin fastened to them. The _Oniscus ceti_ is
-about the size of a small crab, and is covered with remarkably hard
-scales. Head similar to that of the _Pediculus humanus_, with four
-horns, two of which serve as feelers; the other two are hard, curved,
-and serve as clinchers to fix the animal to the whale. Underneath its
-chest, the _Oniscus_ has two carvers, like scythes, with which it
-collects its food; and behind these are four feet, that serve it for
-oars. It has six other clinchers behind, which rivet it so closely to
-the whale, that it cannot be disengaged but by cutting out the entire
-piece to which it is joined. The _Oniscus_ is jointed in the back
-like the tail of a lobster, and the tail covers it like a shield when
-feeding. It fixes itself upon the tenderest part of the whale’s body,
-between the fins, on the sheath, or on the lips, and in this position
-tears pieces out of the whale like a rapacious vulture.
-
-Dr. Colquhoun gives the following statement of the value of the
-whale-bone and whale-oil imported into Great Britain in the following
-years:
-
-  1805  £663,535
-     6   608,206
-     7   521,240
-     8   544,567
-     9   500,715
-    10   566,967
-
-24th, Latitude at midnight, by observation, 81° 12´ 42´´. Longitude, as
-near as our incorrect instruments would permit ascertaining, 12° 42´ E.
-Sea pretty clear of ice, with a considerable swell.
-
-25th and 26th, Continued cruising near the ice in search of whales, and
-were fortunate enough to capture three, two of which were size fish.
-
-28th, Latitude, by observation, 81° 50´. Sea almost quite clear of ice,
-with a great swell; weather serene. Had our object been the making of
-discoveries, there was not _apparently_ any thing to have prevented
-us from going a good way farther to the north; at least we did not
-perceive any large fields of ice in that direction; though it is more
-than probable we should have very soon fallen in with them. We were a
-little farther north than Captain Phipps, who ran a great risk of being
-locked up entirely by the ice. He was, in fact, ice-bound from 31st
-July to 10th August, and during that time the packed ice rose as high
-as the main-yard. The want of ice in that place, where we then were,
-was perhaps owing to the effects of some late gale clearing it away.
-The great swell in the sea appeared to indicate this to have been the
-case.
-
-In my second voyage to this country, in 1807, we could not penetrate
-higher than 78° 30´. A ridge of ice totally prevented our farther
-progress.
-
-May 29th and 30th, Course nearly E. S. E. towards the Seven Islands. We
-had on the 30th a considerable quantity of bay ice, and made but little
-progress. Occasional showers of snow. Saw only one whale.
-
-31st, Tacked to the W. S. W. Ice increasing. Saw several whales. Lay to
-for fishing. Got a very large whale, which measured sixty-four feet in
-length.
-
-During the _flinching_ of the whales, there were generally a
-considerable number of sharks in the vicinity of the vessel. They were
-principally of that variety termed _Squalus pristis_, or Saw-Fish.
-At this time, one more voracious than the rest, approached close to
-the side of the whale’s carcass, and seized a large piece of blubber,
-which was ready to be hoisted on board. Before he could make his
-escape, however, he was struck by a harpoon, and his flight being thus
-obstructed, he was attacked with spears: a tackle was immediately
-fastened to his jaws, and being hoisted on deck, his belly was ripped
-open, and the blubber recovered. The carpenter, too, stripped a
-considerable quantity of skin from his tail. Notwithstanding this rude
-treatment, he was no sooner let down than he swam away with great
-agility.
-
-The _Squalus pristis_, or Saw-Fish is often found upwards of fifteen
-feet long; with sword-shaped bony snout, nearly one-third the length
-of the fish, and denticulated on both sides: mouth placed beneath
-the anterior part of the head; jaws furnished with several rows of
-teeth; habit rather slender; body convex above, and somewhat flattened
-beneath; skin rough; colour greyish brown above, paler beneath.
-
-June 1st, Continued in the same situation, being almost icebound. Sent
-out the boats after a whale, which made its escape below the ice after
-being struck; the lines of course were lost. The harpoons are marked
-with the names of the ship and captain, and if a whale that has been
-killed by one ship be found by another, she is obliged to deliver up a
-certain portion of the blubber to the former.
-
-From June 1st to June 7th, the weather was, upon the whole pretty
-good, though the squalls were very frequent, accompanied by dense
-showers of snow. The rigging, by this time, had assumed a very strange
-appearance, at least what would be deemed as such by a more southern
-sailor. The ropes were frequently increased to double their usual size
-by the incrustations of ice, which had to be beat off by handspikes to
-allow them to pass through the blocks. The decks were every now and
-then besprinkled with saw-dust and sand, to counteract the slippiness
-arising from the combined effects of frost and grease. The cabin-floor,
-too, was covered with saw-dust, and the crew kept some of it in their
-pockets to clean their hands. In this space of time we catched five
-fish of different magnitudes.
-
-During the time we were in those high latitudes, our compasses, five
-in number, varied widely from each other; but this is known to happen
-to all compasses, according as they are placed in different parts of
-the ship. That which was kept in the cabin varied the least. This
-may perhaps tend to confirm the opinion of some navigators, who have
-maintained that the polarity of the needle is injured by intense cold.
-The notion of the variation decreasing as the distance from the Pole
-diminishes, does not appear to have any foundation. According to
-Captain Phipps,
-
-  In Lat. 78° 22´ N.  Long.  9° 8´ E.  Mean var. was 14° 55´
-          79  50            10  2                    20   3
-          80  30            15  4                    11  56
-
-On referring to the Appendix, it will be seen that the variation, as
-observed in the Sybyll, in lat. 78° 11´, long. 6° 55´ E. amounted to
-19° 6´. And by the same excellent observations, combined with those of
-Captain Flinders, it is proved that the variation depends more on the
-_ship’s course_ than on any thing else. It is much to be regretted that
-Captain Phipps did not mention the course his ship was under when he
-made his observations on the variation. As they stand at present, they
-want the most essential element.
-
-8th, Latitude, by observation, 79° 42´. Sea nearly clear of ice. Course
-W. S. W. ½ S. At seven P. M. we discovered Hackluyt’s Headland,
-bearing E. N. E. distant four or five leagues. The weather was hazy,
-and we had but an indistinct view of this black precipitous promontory.
-Saw several whales, but got none.
-
-June 9th, Intense frost. Observed the freezing of salt water. Shot two
-seals, one of which only we brought on board.
-
-16th, Stood in nearer the shore to the south of Hackluyt’s Headland.
-Several of the sea-unicorns were here observed at no great distance
-from the ship. I noticed two which passed close under our stern, that
-had double horns of a considerable size. The unicorns make a great
-noise in blowing, and, when at a distance, are often mistaken for
-whales. We fired several shots at them, and mortally wounded a small
-one, which we brought on board. It measured 9½ feet in length, and
-its horn was four feet one inch.
-
-The _Monodon monoceros_, _Narwhal_, or Unicorn Fish, has been found
-twenty-two feet long, and twelve round. Head nearly one-fourth the
-length of the body, round, small, and terminates in an obtuse rounded
-snout. Mouth small; no teeth, but a large wreathed tusk or horn.
-Sometimes two[33], and often ten feet long, proceeds from its upper
-jaw, diverging to one side, and tapering gradually towards the tip.
-Eyes and ears very small; one respiratory orifice in the back part of
-the head; back broad, convex, and tapering towards the tail, which is
-horizontally placed, and is divided into two obtuse oval lobes. Body
-of an ovoidal shape; no dorsal fins, but a high ridge or projection
-extends from the blow-hole to the origin of the tail, and gradually
-diminishes in height as it approaches the tail; two pectoral fins;
-colour generally cinereous, dappled with numerous multiform black
-spots; belly a shining white, and soft as velvet to the touch.
-
- [33] There is at the Stadthouse at Amsterdam, the skull of a Narwhal,
- with two horns. There is likewise a skull to be seen in Hamburgh,
- having two horns, each above seven feet long, and eight inches round.
-
-Naturalists differ greatly as to the food of the unicorn. Perhaps
-it differs with the parts of the ocean it inhabits. Small fishes,
-_Mollusca_ and _Actinea_, are their more general food.
-
-The Narwhal swims with great swiftness, and, like the other cetacea,
-cannot remain long under the water without respiring. When frightened,
-or attacked, they huddle together in such numbers that they force their
-long horns into the body of each other, and thereby become an easy prey
-to their pursuers.
-
-This animal, though seemingly harmless, is, as already mentioned, a
-dangerous enemy of the common whale; and has been known to dart its
-horn into the side of a ship[34]. The vessel must have sunk had not the
-horn been broken off by the violence of the stroke.
-
- [34] Forst. Voy. p. 353.
-
-The oil produced by the _Monodon monoceros_, though scanty, is, in
-point of quality, superior to any other cetaceous oil.
-
-The horn of the Narwhal was long the object of a kind of superstitious
-respect. It was said to be efficacious in the cure of several
-distempers; and was prized as being of the very highest value. The
-Margraves of Bareuth possessed one which cost them 600,000 rix dollars;
-and the kings of Denmark have a most magnificent throne formed of
-these horns, which is esteemed more valuable than if composed of gold.
-Captain Scoresby (of the Resolution,) has a very fine bed made of the
-same materials. It is reckoned a great curiosity, and is extremely
-handsome. The horn is of a finer texture, and takes a better polish
-than that of the elephant.
-
-11th, Got two fish. Several sail of Greenlandmen in company.
-
-12th, Strong easterly breeze. Ran a considerable way to the westward.
-
-13th and 14th, Gale increased, and we ran a considerable way farther to
-the westward. Cold very intense.
-
-June 15th, Latitude, by observation, 78° 13´. Made fast to a large
-iceberg.
-
-16th, Got a size fish. While we were made fast to this iceberg, some of
-the crew had put a piece of blubber to the fire, and, allured by the
-smell, a very large bear came and put his nose over the gunwale. One of
-the harpooners shot him; but a squall coming on, we did not bring the
-carcass on board.
-
-From the 16th to the 21st, we caught four whales, of various sizes. The
-weather was now getting hazy, as it generally does at this season of
-the year, and the whales were become more difficult to catch.
-
-22d, Spoke the Catharina Elizabeth, of Hanover, Captain Schultz, after
-being a considerable time separated from the rest of the Greenland
-ships. From her we learned that a French frigate, and some smaller
-vessels, were in the North. This intelligence determined us not to
-lessen our distance from Spitzbergen, but to shape our course to
-England by the Feroe Isles. This determination, however, had nearly
-sent us to a French port, for the Guerriere was taken of the Feroe
-Isles on the 19th July, two days after we passed them.
-
-From the 22d to the 29th, the day on which we set sail for England, we
-took six whales, making in all twenty-four, of which fourteen were
-size fish.
-
-On the 26th, an accident happened which was like to have deprived us of
-one of our boatsteerers; but, fortunately, was not finally attended by
-any evil consequence. He was thrown out of the boat by the stroke of a
-whale’s tail, but kept himself on the top of the water by his oar. The
-crew were in such disorder, that before they got him into the boat,
-he was almost senseless with cold, and still worse before they could
-row him to the ship. He was brought down to the cabin, stripped, and
-laid on a blanket before the fire. His hair was like so many icicles,
-and the body exhibited a very cadaverous appearance. No pulsation was
-to be found in any part, and I held a mirror before his mouth without
-producing the least evidence of respiration. I immediately ordered the
-soles of his feet to be rubbed with strong brine; his temples were
-chaffed with strong volatile spirits, and the same were applied to his
-nose. Hot flannels, moistened with camphorated spirits of wine, were
-applied to the spine, and over the breast, and renewed every quarter
-of an hour. Stimulating powders were put to his nose, but without any
-apparent effect; he never showed the least symptoms of animation; nor
-could the body be brought to any degree of warmth, notwithstanding
-being rubbed with hot coarse cloths. As the last resource, I ordered
-one of the men to blow into the patient’s mouth, as strongly as he
-could, holding his nostrils at the same time lest any of the air should
-escape. When I found, by the rising of the chest, that the lungs
-were properly inflated, I ordered him to quit blowing, and with my
-hand pressed down the chest and belly, so as to expel the air. This
-imitation of natural respiration was pursued for a short time, till,
-putting my hand on his left breast, I found his heart give some feeble
-beats: soon after, the pulse at the wrist was found to beat. In a short
-time he opened his eyes, and looked round in wild amaze; then shut them
-again. As soon as he was able to swallow, I gave him a gentle cordial,
-which was repeated every five minutes, till he was a great deal
-recovered. The Captain was so kind as to order him to be put into his
-own bed, with two of the men, one on each side, to bring him the sooner
-to a natural heat. Plenty of clothes being put over them, he soon fell
-into a profound sleep and gentle perspiration, and so remained for two
-or three hours, when he awoke quite well and refreshed, but had rather
-a wild look. On giving him a glass of brandy, he arose and went to
-his own berth as before. All the time I was on board, the poor fellow
-expressed the greatest gratitude to me, and thankfulness to God, for
-thus being providentially rescued from the grasp of death. It is almost
-needless to remark, that in this inclement region, swimming is of
-little or no use to any person who may chance to fall overboard, as his
-muscular motion is almost instantaneously obstructed by the intensity
-of the cold.
-
-Colds and coughs are the disorders most prevalent among sailors in this
-country. Sometimes the scurvy breaks out amongst them, but I never saw
-any symptoms of it. Fractures, dislocations, sprains, bruises, cuts,
-and frost-biting, give the surgeons a good deal of trouble. A certain
-complaint, either contracted in England, or the Orkney or Shetland
-Isles, is very common.
-
-The Resolution did not lose a single man in either of the voyages I
-made to this country. By the blessing of Providence, they were again
-all safely restored to their native land.
-
-30th, Latitude 76° 37´; Longitude, as near as we could calculate, 1°
-West. Steered due south. The men were employed in cleaning the ship,
-drying the lines, &c.
-
-From July 1st to July 5th, course southerly. Weather fine, but hazy.
-Ice diminishing, and the sun getting gradually nearer the horizon.
-Saw several whales; they were now become extremely furious, and made
-considerably more noise in blowing.
-
-Voyagers are, in these high latitudes, often surprised and delighted by
-the appearance of mock suns and moons, but I was not so fortunate as
-to perceive any. The frozen particles floating in the atmosphere are
-supposed to be the cause of these phenomena.
-
-From the 5th to the 7th, wind at N. E. Course S. S. W. Lat. 71° 10´.
-Greenland ships, from their clumsy make, when heavily loaded, sail with
-but very little expedition.
-
-July 8th, Strong breeze from E. N. E. Course S. S. W. ½ W. Ice
-totally gone. Sun almost coincident with the horizon.
-
-From the 8th to the 17th, excellent weather. Course generally S. S. E.
-½ E. On the 17th, we fell in with the westernmost of the Feroe Isles.
-Our dead reckoning was considerably to the east.
-
-The Feroe Isles lie 70 leagues N. W. from Unst, in Shetland, and extend
-to 62° 30.´
-
-Seventeen of these islands are habitable. They are rugged, mountainous,
-and rocky; the intervening currents deep and rapid; the sea around
-them turbulent, and at times so much agitated by whirlwinds, that
-vast quantities of water are forced up into the air, and the fishes
-contained therein frequently deposited on the tops of the highest
-mountains. These are equally resistless on land, tearing up trees,
-stones, and animals, and carrying them to very distant places.
-Whirlpools, too, are numerous in these seas, and extremely dangerous;
-that near the island of Suderoe is the most noted. It is occasioned
-by a crater, sixty-one fathoms deep in the centre, and from fifty to
-fifty-five on the sides. The water forms four fierce circumgyrations.
-The point they begin at is on the side of a large bason, where
-commences a range of rocks running spirally, and terminating at the
-verge of the crater. This range is extremely rugged, and covered
-with water from the depth of twelve to eight fathoms only. It forms
-four equidistant wreaths, with a channel from thirty-five to twenty
-fathoms in depth between each. On the outside, beyond that depth, the
-sea suddenly sinks to eighty and ninety. On the south border of the
-bason, is a lofty rock, called _Sumboe Munk_, noted for the number
-of birds which frequent it. On one side, the water is only three or
-four fathoms deep, on the other, fifteen. The danger at most times,
-especially in storms, is very great. Ships are irresistibly drawn in:
-the rudder loses its power, and the waves beat as high as the masts,
-so that an escape is almost miraculous; yet at the reflux, and in very
-still weather, the inhabitants will venture in boats for the sake of
-fishing. _Arct. Zool._ 2d edit. vol. i. p. 56.
-
-On arriving at these southerly latitudes, the appearance of the moon
-and stars was, to use the language of Captain Phipps, almost as
-extraordinary a phenomena as the sun at midnight, when we first got
-within the Arctic circle.
-
-On the 20th, lay becalmed off Fair Isle, a barren spot, about three
-miles long, situated midway between the Shetland and Orkney Isles,
-and inhabited by about 170 persons. The shores are high and rugged;
-greatest depth of the water near it twenty-six fathoms. The tide here
-runs with great velocity, and forms at the east end a considerable
-eddy. Some ships belonging to the famous Spanish Armada were lost on
-this isle.
-
-When lying off Fair Isle, we sent the men we had got from Shetland
-ashore in the row-boats.
-
-22d, Passed North Ronaldshaw light in the Orkneys. The wind being but
-little, and at S.E. we were drifted by the tide down the Murray Firth,
-or _Tuum Æstuarium_ of the Romans, as far as Spey Bay. Tacked and stood
-in for Kinnaird’s Head, the _Taizalum Promontorium_, which, with the
-north-eastern extremity of Caithness, forms this capacious bay.
-
-July 23d, Off Fraserburgh, to which we sent letters by a fishing boat.
-Tacked and stood in for Peterhead, the most eastern part of Scotland,
-and famous for its medicinal waters; it is situated about thirty miles
-north of Aberdeen.
-
-25th, Fell in with a cutter off Saint Abb’s Head, which we at first
-took for a French privateer: to our satisfaction, however, she proved
-to be the Try-All of London, a privateer of 14 guns, and 70 or 80 men.
-
-26th, Came in sight of Whitby. It blowing very hard, we could not
-anchor in the roads. Sailed farther to the south; then tacked and
-hoisted a flag for a pilot. In the evening a pilot came off in his
-cobble; but it blew so remarkably hard, that he could not get any
-person to come along with him but an intrepid _lame tailor_. They came
-on board, but being heavy laden, and the tides low, we could not get
-into Whitby. We therefore determined to run for Hull; but, calling at
-Scarborough, we got a brig to come to Whitby roads in order to lighten
-us.
-
-July 27th, Fourteen of our men being afraid of the press, took two
-boats, and ran into Robbin Hood’s Bay. Anchored this evening in Whitby
-Roads.
-
-28th and 29th, The brig lightened us about 100 tons, and the evening of
-the latter day we got withinside the bridge, and were mustered by the
-custom-house officers, as is usual on those occasions.
-
-31st, Paid off.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In concluding the account of this voyage, it would be unpardonable
-in me to neglect mentioning the kindness and attention with which I
-was always treated by Captain Scoresby, and his son the mate. Captain
-Scoresby is well known to the world at large, for his vigorous,
-enterprizing character, as well as for consummate skill in nautical
-matters. As Captain of the ship, his conduct was most exemplary. He
-was attentive to all the duties of religion, and preserved a proper
-decorum, and strict discipline, without harshness, among the crew.
-
-
-
-
-APPENDIX.
-
-
-No. I.
-
-The following extract from Dr. Edmonston’s work on the Shetland Isles,
-gives a curious account of the popular superstitions still prevalent
-among their inhabitants. “On no subject are they more superstitious
-than in what relates to fishing. Some of the more skilful prophets
-can foretell, from the knots in the bottom-boards of a boat, whether
-it will be lucky to fish or not; and whether it will be overset under
-sail, or be otherwise cast away; and boats have been rejected and torn
-up in consequence of such a prophecy. When they go to the fishing,
-they carefully avoid meeting any person, unless it be one who has long
-enjoyed the reputation of being lucky; nor, when the boat has floated,
-is it deemed safe to turn it but with the sun. If a man tread on the
-tongs in the morning, or be asked where he is going, he need not go to
-the fishing that day. When at sea, the fishermen employ a nomenclature
-peculiar to the occasion, and scarcely a single thing then retains
-its usual name. Most of their names are of Norwegian origin; for the
-Norwaymen were reported to have been successful fishers. Certain names
-must not be mentioned while they are setting their lines, especially
-the minister and the cat; and many others equally unmeaning.
-
-“Witchcraft is still believed by the peasantry to exist in Zetland; and
-some old women live by pretending to be witches, for no one ventures to
-refuse what they ask. About six years ago, a man entered a prosecution
-in the sheriff-court at Lerwick against a woman for witchcraft. He
-stated, that she uniformly assumed the form of a raven, and in that
-character killed his cattle, and prevented the milk of his cows from
-yielding butter. The late Mr. Scott, then sheriff-substitute, permitted
-the case to come into court, and was at great pains to explain the
-folly, and even criminality of such proceedings.
-
-“Nearly allied to witchcraft is a firm belief in the efficacy of alms.
-When a person is anxious for the accomplishment of any particular
-event, or considers himself in danger, he vows alms to some person,
-generally an old woman who enjoys the reputation of being provided
-for in that manner; and, if his wishes are realized, he scrupulously
-performs his vow. There are the ruins of an old church in the parish of
-Weesdale, called _Our Lady’s Church_, which is supposed to possess a
-still greater influence in this respect than any living being. Many are
-the boats which are said to have arrived safe at land in consequence of
-a promise to this effect, where death, without such an intervention,
-appeared inevitable. Several coins have been found at different times
-concealed in the walls of this Loretto of Zetland.
-
-“A belief in the existence of _Brownie_, the tutelar saint of
-husbandry, is beginning to be exploded; but the fairies or _trows_
-have still a “local habitation and a name.” They occupy small stony
-hillocks or _knowes_, and whenever they make an excursion abroad, are
-seen mounted on bulrushes riding in the air. If a person should happen
-to meet them, without having a Bible in his pocket, he is directed to
-draw a circle round him, on the ground, and in God’s name forbid their
-nearer approach, after which they commonly disappear. They are said to
-be very mischievous, not only shooting cattle with their arrows, but
-even carrying human beings with them to the hills. Child-bed women are
-sometimes taken to nurse a prince, and although the appearance of the
-body remain at home, yet the immaterial part is removed. Such persons
-are observed to be very pale and absent; and it is generally some old
-woman who enjoys the faculty of bringing soul and body together.” Vol.
-ii. p. 73.
-
-
-No. II.
-
-In order to make this little work as complete as possible, I have
-annexed the following accounts of the Dutch, English, and American
-whale-fisheries. The two former I have compiled from authentic
-documents, and the latter is extracted from the late valuable work of
-Mr. Pitkin on the Commerce of the United States.
-
-_Dutch Whale Fishery._--Towards the latter end of the sixteenth
-century, the whale-fishing on the coast of Spitzbergen became
-considerable. It was entirely in the hands of the English till the
-year 1578. This fishery was first carried on by a company, which sent
-thither annually a few ships, to the exclusion of the rest of their
-countrymen, and who also endeavoured to exclude foreigners. In the
-year 1613, the company’s ships amounted to seven sail, who, on their
-arrival at Spitzbergen, found there fifteen Dutch, French, and Flemish
-ships, besides English interlopers. Next year, the Dutch sent eighteen
-sail, of which four were men of war. In 1615, the king of Denmark sent
-a squadron of three men-of-war to assert his exclusive right, but with
-such indifferent success, that his majesty thought fit to give up the
-point. In 1617, our company were more lucky than in any other year, and
-actually made one thousand nine hundred tun of oil. The Dutch made,
-for many years after, very indifferent voyages; and, as their great
-statesman, M. De Witt, well observes, had certainly been forced to
-relinquish the trade, _had it not been laid open by the dissolution
-of their Greenland Company_, to which he attributes their having in
-his time, beat the English, and almost all other nations, out of that
-trade, which they then carried on to a prodigious extent.
-
-The following is a list of the ships sent from Holland to the Greenland
-and Davis’ Straits whale-fishery, from the year 1661 to 1788, both
-inclusive, with an account of the number of whales catched each year:
-
- _A List of Greenland and Davis’ Straits Ships, from Holland, since the
- year 1661, with the number of Fish caught each year._
-
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  | _Years_ | _Ships._ | _Fish._          |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1661   |   133    |   452            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1662   |   149    |   862            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1663   |   202    |   932            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1664   |   193    |   782            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1665   | }                           |
-  +---------+ }  War with                 |
-  |  1666   | } England, no               |
-  +---------+ }  Ships out.               |
-  |  1667   | }                           |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1668   |   155    |   573            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1669   |   138    |  1013            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1670   |   148    |   792            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1671   |   158    |  1088            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1672   | }                           |
-  +---------+ }  War with                 |
-  |  1673   | } England, no               |
-  +---------+ }  Ships out.               |
-  |  1674   | }                           |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1675   |   147    |   900            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1676   |   145    |   812            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1677   |   145    |   785            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1678   |   120    |  1118            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1679   |   126    |   792            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1680   |   151    |  1373            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1681   |   175    |   876            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1682   |   195    |  1444            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1683   |   242    |  1338            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1684   |   233    |  1153            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1685   |   200    |  1283            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1686   |   189    |   664            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1687   |   194    |   621            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1688   |   214    |   340            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1689   |   160    |   241            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1690   |   117    |   785            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1691   |     2    | War with France. |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1692   |    32    |    56            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1693   |    90    |   175            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1694   |    63    |   161            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1695   |    97    |   187            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1696   |   122    |   428            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1697   |   131    |  1279            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1698   |   139    |  1483            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1699   |   151    |   775            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1700   |   173    |   913            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1701   |   208    |  2071            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1702   |   224    |   687            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1703   |   207    |   644            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1704   |   130    |   652            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1705   |   157    |  1678            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1706   |   151    |   986            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1707   |   131    |   126            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1708   |   122    |   533            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1709   |   126    |   192            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1710   |   137    |    62            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1711   |   117    |   631            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1712   |   108    |   373            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1713   |    93    |   237            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1714   |   108    |  1291            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1715   |   134    |   698            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1716   |   153    |   535            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1717   |   179    |   392            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1718   |   139    |   280            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1719   |   211    |   346            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1720   |   228    |   455            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1721   |   260    |   733            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1722   |   254    |  1101            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1723   |   233    |   314            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1724   |   232    |   358            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1725   |   226    |   530            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1726   |   218    |   244            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1727   |   202    |   402            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1728   |   182    |   363            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1729   |   184    |   229            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1730   |   168    |   248            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1731   |   164    |   298            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1732   |   176    |   314            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1733   |   184    |   360            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1734   |   186    |   327            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1735   |   185    |   496            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1736   |   191    |   857            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1737   |   196    |   504            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1738   |   195    |   472            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1739   |   192    |   728            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1740   |   187    |   665            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1741   |   178    |   312            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1742   |   173    |   558            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1743   |   185    |   937            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1744   |   187    |  1494            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1745   |   184    |   568            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1746   |   180    |  1036            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1747   |   164    |   776            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1748   |    94    |   278            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1749   |   157    |   619            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1750   |   158    |   590            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1751   |   162    |   330            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1752   |   159    |   546            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1753   |   166    |   639            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1754   |   171    |   672            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1755   |   181    |   720            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1756   |   186    |   508            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1757   |   180    |   423            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1758   |   159    |   371            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1759   |   155    |   464            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1760   |   154    |   454            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1761   |   161    |   357            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1762   |   165    |   189            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1763   |          |                  |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1764   |   161    |   224            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1765   |   165    |   477            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1766   |   167    |   189            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1767   |   165    |   179            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1768   |   160    |   600            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1769   |   152    |  1127            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1770   |   150    |   523            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1771   |   150    |   143            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1772   |   131    |   768            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1773   |   134    |   444            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1774   |   130    |   450            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1775   |   129    |   105            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1776   |   123    |   509            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1777   |   116    |   427            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1778   |   111    |   306            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1779   |   105    |   168            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1780   |    82    |   476            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1781   | }                           |
-  +---------+ } War with England,         |
-  |  1782   | } no Ships out              |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1783   |    55    |   330            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1784   |    62    |   198            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1785   |    65    |   300            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1786   |    67    |   476            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1787   |    67    |   239            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-  |  1788   |    69    |   190            |
-  +---------+----------+------------------+
-
-N. B. From the year 1719 are included the Davis’ Straits Ships.
-
-From this period the Dutch whale-fishery rapidly declined, and was at
-length totally annihilated during the late war.
-
-
-_English Whale Fishery._--The English Whale Fishery, like that of
-Holland, was originally carried on by an exclusive company. The first
-association of merchants for this purpose was soon dissolved; but,
-owing to successive grants of the same kind, the trade continued
-fettered for a considerable period posterior to the Revolution. During
-this time, it was, as might have been expected, carried on with almost
-no success.--In 1724, the South Sea Company embarked largely in this
-department of industry; but, having, in the course of eight years,
-incurred an immense loss, they were glad to abandon it. In 1733, the
-government being determined to encourage this fishery, a bounty of 20s.
-per ton was granted to all ships of 200 tons and upwards, employed
-therein; as this bounty, however, was found insufficient, in 1749
-it was doubled. This extraordinary encouragement, by factitiously
-determining a portion of the national capital into this channel, had
-at last a considerable effect; but a long time elapsed ere the English
-could, even with these superior advantages, successfully compete with
-the Dutch. Since this epoch many alterations have been made in the
-laws respecting the Greenland fishery; and at the commencement of
-the late war, the bounties were reduced, owing to the market being
-overstocked with oil.
-
-The following account of the number of English and Scottish vessels
-employed in the Greenland whale fishery, and of their tonnage, from
-1771 to 1800, both inclusive, is extracted from M’Phersons Annals of
-Commerce:
-
-  +----------------------------------+------------+---------+
-  |             ENGLAND.             |       SCOTLAND.      |
-  | _Years._ | _Vessels._ |  _Tons._ | _Vessels._ | _Tons._ |
-  +----------+------------+----------+------------+---------+
-  | 1771     |     50     |  14,700  |      9     |  2,797  |
-  | 1772     |     50     |  15,378  |      9     |  2,797  |
-  | 1773     |     55     |  16,712  |     10     |  3,016  |
-  | 1774     |     65     |  19,770  |      9     |  2,773  |
-  | 1775     |     96     |  29,131  |      9     |  2,773  |
-  | 1776     |     91     |  27,047  |      7     |  2,251  |
-  | 1777     |     77     |  21,917  |      7     |  2,251  |
-  | 1778     |     71     |  20,291  |      5     |  1,587  |
-  | 1779     |     52     |  16,907  |      3     |    956  |
-  | 1780     |     50     |  14,900  |      4     |  1,282  |
-  | 1781     |     34     |   9,859  |      5     |  1,459  |
-  | 1782     |     38     |  11,122  |      6     |  1,764  |
-  | 1783     |     47     |  14,268  |      4     |  1,095  |
-  | 1784     |     89     |  27,224  |      7     |  2,047  |
-  | 1785     |    136     |  41,741  |     13     |  3,865  |
-  | 1786     |    162     |  49,426  |     23     |  6,997  |
-  | 1787     |    219     |  64,286  |     31     |  9,057  |
-  | 1788     |    216     |  63,399  |     31     |  8,910  |
-  | 1789     |    133     |  38,751  |     28     |  7,846  |
-  | 1790     |    130     |  30,290  |     22     |  5,898  |
-  | 1791     |     93     |  27,598  |     23     |  6,308  |
-  | 1792     |     73     |  21,496  |     28     |  5,487  |
-  | 1793     |     38     |   8,437  |     14     |  3,813  |
-  | 1794     |     47     |  12,906  |     13     |  3,480  |
-  | 1795     |     34     |   9,135  |     10     |  2,613  |
-  | 1796     |     42     |  11,516  |      9     |  2,317  |
-  | 1797     |     50     |  13,757  |     10     |  2,614  |
-  | 1798     |     56     |  16,140  |     10     |  2,614  |
-  | 1799     |     57     |  16,731  |     10     |  2,629  |
-  | 1800     |     51     |  15,077  |     10     |  2,652  |
-  +----------+------------+----------+------------+---------+
-
-From 1788, this table is made up from the annual accounts laid before
-Parliament; and the number of ships, and the tonnage, always refers to
-the number of those who actually _cleared out_ for Greenland. We have
-already given Dr. Colquhoun’s estimate of the value of the whale oil
-and whalebone imported into Great Britain from 1805 to 1810.
-
-
-_American Whale Fishery._--The whale fishery first attracted the
-attention of the Americans in 1690, and originated at the island
-of Nantucket, in boats from the shore. In 1715, six sloops, of
-thirty-eight tons burden each, were employed in this fishery, from
-that island. For many years their adventures were confined to the
-American coast, but as whales grew scarce here, they were extended to
-the Western Islands, and to the Brazils, and at length to the North
-and South Seas[35]. For a long time the Dutch seemed to monopolize the
-whale fishery, which they followed, with success, in the Greenland or
-Northern Seas.
-
- [35] See Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
-
-As early as 1663, they had two hundred and two ships employed in this
-fishery, and in 1721, as many as two hundred and sixty; in 1788, the
-number was reduced to sixty-nine, and for many years past, not only has
-this branch of their commerce, but almost every other, been completely
-annihilated. In 1731, the Americans had about thirteen hundred tons of
-shipping employed in this fishery along their coast. About the year
-1750, the whale left the American coast. The hardy enterprise and
-activity of the American sailor, however, soon followed him in every
-part of the Northern and Southern Seas.
-
-From 1771 to 1775, Massachusetts employed, annually, one hundred and
-eighty-three vessels, of thirteen thousand eight hundred and twenty
-tons, in the northern whale fishery, and one hundred and twenty-one
-vessels, of fourteen thousand and twenty-six tons, in the southern;
-navigated by four thousand and fifty-nine seamen. The peculiar mode of
-paying the seamen, in these hazardous voyages, has contributed not a
-little to the success of the voyages themselves. Each has a share in
-the profits of the voyage, and is dependent on his own exertions for
-the reward of his toils. Whether he shall be rich or poor, depends
-on his activity in managing the boat, in pursuit of the whale, and
-his dexterity in directing the harpoon. This has led to a spirit of
-enterprise and hardihood, never surpassed, if ever equalled, by the
-seamen of any nation in the world.
-
-During the war of the American revolution, this fishery was destroyed;
-on the return of peace, it recovered, by degrees, and, from 1787 to
-1789, ninety-one vessels, of five thousand eight hundred and twenty
-tons, were annually employed in the northern fishery, and thirty-one
-vessels, of four thousand three hundred and ninety tons, in the
-southern, with one thousand six hundred and eleven seamen. The quantity
-of spermaceti oil taken annually, from 1771 to 1775, was thirty-nine
-thousand three hundred and ninety barrels, and of whale oil eight
-thousand six hundred and fifty. From 1787 to 1789, the quantity of
-spermaceti taken annually was seven thousand nine hundred and eighty
-barrels, and whale oil thirteen thousand one hundred and thirty.
-In the representation made to Congress in the year 1790, by the
-legislature of Massachusetts, it is stated that, before the late war,
-about four thousand seamen, and twenty-four thousand tons of shipping
-were annually employed, from that State, in the whale fishery, and
-that the produce thereof was about £350,000 lawful money, or about
-1,160,000 dollars. A great part of this fishery has been carried on
-from Nantucket, where it originated, a small island about fifteen
-miles in length, and two or three miles in breadth, situated about
-thirty miles from the coast. Before the revolutionary war, this
-small island had sixty-five ships, of four thousand eight hundred and
-seventy-five tons, annually employed in the northern, and eighty-five
-ships, of ten thousand two hundred tons, in the southern fishery.
-From 1787 to 1789, it had only eighteen ships, of one thousand three
-hundred and fifty tons, in the northern, and eighteen ships, of two
-thousand seven hundred tons, in the southern fishery. For many years
-past, this fishery has been carried on from this island, and from
-New Bedford, a large commercial and flourishing town on the coast,
-in its neighbourhood, and has employed from fifteen thousand to
-eighteen thousand tons of shipping, principally in the Southern Seas.
-Although Great Britain has, at various times, given large bounties
-to her ships employed in this fishery, yet the whalemen of Nantucket
-and New-Bedford, unprotected and unsupported by any thing but their
-own industry and enterprise, have generally been able to meet their
-competitors in a foreign market. The value of spermaceti and common
-whale oil, whale bone, and spermaceti candles, exported since 1802, has
-been as follows:--
-
-        Whale (common)  Spermaceti oil
-         oil and bone.  and candles.
-
-          _Dolls._         _Dolls._
-
-  1803    280,000          175,000
-  1804    310,000           70,000
-  1805    315,000          163,000
-  1806    418,000          182,000
-  1807    476,000          139,000
-  1808     88,000           33,000
-  1809    169,000          136,000
-  1810    222,000          132,000
-  1811     78,000          273,000
-  1812     56,000          141,000
-  1813      2,500           10,500
-  1814      1,000            9,000
-
-The common whale oil finds a market in the West Indies, Great Britain,
-France, Spain, and Portugal. The greatest part of the spermaceti oil
-is carried to Great Britain. The late war between the United States
-and Great Britain has again almost annihilated the cod and whale
-fisheries.[36] While in the years previous to the restrictive system
-and the war, the fisheries furnished articles for exportation to an
-amount of more than three millions of dollars, in 1814 the exports of
-the produce of the fisheries is reduced to the sum of 188,000 dollars.
-
- [36] Twenty-four whalemen were taken by the British in the late war.
-
-
-No. III.
-
-During the publication of this little work, I was favoured, through
-the medium of a friend, with some very important remarks made by a
-Gentleman of great nautical skill and experience, in the year 1814,
-on board his Majesty’s ship Sybyll, while in the North Seas, for the
-protection of the Greenland fishery.
-
-The first point to which he alludes, is the variation of the
-compass; and, respecting it, he observes, “Being anxious that every
-thing possible should be done for the improvement of navigation, I
-determined, while in those high latitudes, to take every opportunity
-of observing to what extent the variation of the compass might be
-affected by the ship’s course. A paper containing Captain Flinders’s
-observations on the same subject, had previously been sent to me by the
-Lords of the Admiralty; and as these observations had chiefly been made
-in high southern latitudes, it became doubly important to ascertain
-whether the same laws were followed in high northern latitudes.
-Experience has completely proved that they are; and, in fact, it
-is some years since I ascertained that the course down the English
-Channel, just taking the ship clear of head-lands, the opposite one up
-Channel would run the ship on the French coast.
-
-“In order to render the result of my observations on this subject as
-clear as possible, I have selected a few, and inserted them in the
-order they were taken. The correctness of them may be relied on, being
-all calculated by two persons, examined by a third, and the whole taken
-by myself.
-
-“I boarded a good many Greenland ships when in the North, whose masters
-all agreed in maintaining, that they experienced _strong south-east
-currents_ on their return home, and were often confounded at making
-the coast of Norway when they expected to make that of Shetland.
-Now, I have no hesitation in saying, that if the same difference in
-the variation is to be found on board of a Greenland ship, that was
-found to exist in the Sybyll and Princess Carolina, the idea of a
-strong easterly current is unfounded, and is merely resorted to, to
-account for the error in their dead reckoning, arising from their not
-allowing a sufficiency of westerly variation in running from the ice
-to the south-west. A degree of longitude is soon lost in those high
-latitudes, and the error must increase in running to the south-west, if
-proper allowance be not made; for I am very certain that a different
-variation will be found on every point of the compass the ship’s head
-is put on. The greatest will be found when the _ship’s head is at
-West_, gradually declining till it comes to East.
-
-“The Princess Carolina, as well as Sybyll, experienced _the same
-currents_ as the masters of the Greenland ships supposed to exist; for
-when we made Shetland, by Arnold’s chronometer, No. 1981, to a mile,
-our dead reckonings were nearly 6° _to the westward in both ships_;
-and when we made the North Cape by the same chronometer, (which was
-under my own care,) the longitude in both ships, by account, was 4°
-to the westward also. The one error was occasioned by not allowing a
-sufficient quantity of variation in running to the south-west, and the
-other by allowing too much in running to the north-east.
-
-“I do not know whether the same observations may hold good when applied
-to ships coming from the Baltic; but should they do so, they must
-effectually account for ships getting down on the coast of Holland,
-when they suppose themselves well over in Mid-channel. Perhaps this
-may, in some measure, serve to account for the loss of so many of our
-brave tars when coming from that sea.
-
-“Notwithstanding the whole tenor of my observations, as well as those
-of Captain Flinders, led me to believe that the cause of the variation
-must exist in the ship; yet I had great difficulty in coming to a
-conclusion so remote from what had formerly been held to be truth; and
-for that reason, during our stay at St. Mary’s, I took the opportunity
-of making a decisive experiment on this subject. I first went with
-the Azimuth compass to St. Agnes’s lighthouse, from which I set the
-flag-staff on St. Mary’s Castle, E. 31° N. I next went to St. Mary’s
-castle, and from it set the lighthouse W. 31° S. Finding these opposite
-bearings thus correspond when on shore, I am fully persuaded the cause
-of the differences observed when at sea, must exist in the ship.”
-
-After making these remarks on the variation of the compass, he next
-goes on to make some observations, as they occurred in the voyage.
-
-“On the 16th of June, saw Bear, or Cherry Island, which, at a distance,
-looks like a saddle, both extremities being very high, and the middle
-low. It may be seen 20 leagues off in clear weather. At noon, it
-bore by compass, N. _b_ E. ½ E. when I observed in 73° 44´ N. good
-observation, and our chronometer gave good sights, 20° 3´ E. By seven
-P. M. we had run 33 miles on a N.N.W. course corrected, when the south
-end of the island bore by compass E. _b_ N. 3 or 4 leagues, which,
-brought up from noon, will make it in 74° 19´ N. Lat. and 20° 7´ E.
-Long. At this time it came on foggy, and prevented us from ascertaining
-its extent. Soundings are to be obtained to the southward of this
-island, and up to Spitzbergen; black mud and small shells.
-
-“19th, Saw Spitzbergen, and on the 20th were close in with the South
-Cape. We carried regular soundings to 11 fathoms, about three miles
-off; but this part of the coast appearing to be surrounded with rocks,
-we did not attempt approaching it more closely. Our chronometers made
-it in about 16° 2´ E. We saw some beacons placed along the coast, each
-in the form of a cross, which, are, no doubt, placed there for the
-guidance of the Russian hunters.
-
-“About this time we bore away for the North Cape, in order to water,
-and procure any refreshments that could be got. After making the land
-to the westward of the Cape, we stood into a large bay, to look for a
-place of safety to accomplish our purpose, hardly suspecting that any
-inhabitants were to be found. On standing in, we observed some boats
-under sail, one of which was soon brought alongside, that contained a
-family of Finmarkers, some of whom spoke the Danish language. They
-informed us of the town of _Hammerfest_ being close by, and offered to
-take us in. This offer was soon embraced, and, in a few hours, the town
-opened to our view; which, to our astonishment, contained a church,
-batteries, &c. The Captain of the port soon made his appearance, and
-anchored us in safety. I made a survey of this place, and ascertained
-its latitude and longitude as correctly as possible, which are as
-follow:
-
-  The latitude of Hammerfest Town,
-  ascertained by a good Sextant
-  and False-Horizon, taken on
-  shore, was found                   70° 38´ 34´´ N.
-
-  Longitude, by Arnold’s chronometer,
-  No. 1981, taken on shore, by
-  the same means                     24  28   0   E.
-
-  Variation by same means            11   4   0   W.
-
-  Range of thermometer on board from 70° to 75°
-
-  Range of thermometer on shore      75     80
-
-High water on full and change, at three hours; rise and fall 8 feet.
-I found it is very much influenced by the wind, and when it blows
-strongly from the N. W. it rises considerably higher.
-
-“The town of Hammerfest is situated on the island of Qualoon, 25
-Danish miles in extent, and is one of the departments of West Finmark,
-which contains 25,000 souls. This province is divided into parishes,
-each having its priest, and over the whole is a bishop, to enforce
-the duties of the Lutheran religion. There are 200 regular soldiers
-scattered in different quarters of the province, commanded by a
-captain, who governs the whole country. About thirty houses compose
-the town of Hammerfest, with about 200 inhabitants; with one church,
-one hospital, a customhouse, and some public and private stores. The
-customhouse has regular established officers appointed from Copenhagen.
-The captain of the port is under the same appointment, and wears the
-uniform of the Danish navy.
-
-“The principal trade of this place is in furs and fish, which are all
-sent into Russia. The extent of the imports and exports I was not
-able accurately to learn, but suppose them, in time of peace, to be
-something considerable. I was told by the captain of the port, that in
-1808, 200 sail had been seen here at one time. The Russian merchants
-have their agents scattered all over West as well as East Finmark.
-They make their purchases from the Finmarkers, with flour, brandy,
-sail-cloth, fishing-lines, coarse cloth, and other articles of that
-kind, for enabling them to carry on the fishing and hunting business. I
-was informed that 3000 boats were yearly employed by the Finmarkers in
-fishing; for as soon as the hunting season is over, they devote their
-whole attention to the fisheries. Four or five men are attached to each
-boat.
-
-“Cod and herrings abound on this coast, and are the finest I ever saw,
-being of a much firmer and better texture than those caught on the
-banks of Newfoundland.
-
-“As the Finmarker dries his fish in the sun, without salt, it must be
-but a very poor employment: but, as all his wants are easily supplied,
-with this kind of commerce he is satisfied, and thinks money of little
-consideration. Perhaps, after all, they are more happy than the lower
-orders of more enlightened nations.
-
-“Perhaps a fishing establishment at Hammerfest might be attended
-with considerable advantage. The deepness of the water would render
-a departure from the mode of fishing observed on the banks of
-Newfoundland indispensable. The hook and line are here of little
-consequence. The Finmarkers all fish with nets, and we adopted the
-same method with considerable success. No place is better adapted than
-this for curing with salt. From its situation, embosomed by hills,
-the thermometer in the summer, as our observations show, often reaches
-a very high degree of temperature. With proper management, a cod
-might then have been prepared for the market in three days, while at
-Newfoundland, in the best weather, it requires five.
-
-“At Newfoundland, they have only from twelve to fourteen hours sun;
-at Hammerfest, nearly four months. The advantages, therefore, as
-to climate, on the side of Hammerfest, are most obvious. Perhaps,
-too, an establishment in the North might, in time of war, be of some
-importance, as it would the better enable us to prevent our enemies
-enjoying any share of so lucrative a trade as the whale fishing.
-
-“The cold is by no means so intense in winter as might be expected.
-The inner harbour, though seldom agitated by winds, was never seen
-frozen over; and the moonlight is sufficiently strong to render labour
-practicable. Nature has been very provident with respect to fuel, the
-whole country abounding with good turf. The severity of the climate
-diminishes the vital principle in the human race; the men soon get old,
-and the women are past child-bearing at thirty-five.
-
-“The chase of the bear, who is never killed before January or February,
-when they are in the best condition, sets the courage and cool
-deliberation of the Finmarker in a most conspicuous point of view.
-In October, the Finmarker carefully watches the haunts of the bear,
-who, at that time, seeks for a winter retreat; and having marked it,
-returns in January to the attack. Having prepared a lance, to which a
-_cross-bar_ is affixed, about one foot from the point, the Finmarker,
-when the wind is in a favourable direction, makes a large fire before
-the bear’s den; the smoke soon irritating the animals, they rush
-out, one by one: at this critical moment the Finmarker, concealing
-his lance, places himself behind the fire, and the bear, rearing on
-his hind legs, in order to seize him, he plunges his lance up to the
-cross-bar in his breast.[37] The rest are served in the same manner.
-
- [37] The intrepidity of the Finmarker, and the dangers he has to
- encounter in the chase of the seal, are well described in Acerbi’s
- excellent Travels in the North, vol. i. p. 291.
-
-“The rein deer are here extremely plenty, and very dear; we paid L.2
-for one of them. Certainly they had heard something of the wealth of
-John Bull.
-
-“Some of the better sort of people at Hammerfest, possessed a few cows
-and sheep. The cows were not larger than a bull-dog, and the sheep like
-a good tom-cat.
-
-“The female beauty of this place had sufficient attraction to induce
-the gentlemen of the Princess Carolina and Sybyll to give them a ball
-and supper. The invitation was quite general, and the whole went off
-with great eclat.
-
-“Most of the Russian agents and merchants spoke the English language;
-but they were by no means anxious to communicate information which they
-thought might, one day or other, ruin their commercial pursuits. It was
-only when they got a good dinner, and plenty of wine, that any thing
-particular could be drawn from them.
-
-“The Sybyll and Princess Carolina sailed from the Downs on the 6th of
-May, and on the 18th of August arrived in Long Hope Sound. Our highest
-latitude was 78° 16´, where we saw many of the Greenland ships. We
-sailed as far east as 32° 44´, and experienced one continued series of
-good weather. The thermometer never was below 26° in the night, and
-seldom above 44° in the day, with the exception of the time we were at
-Hammerfest.”
-
-  +-----+-------------+---------+---------+--------------+-------------+
-  |     |    |        |         |  [Sun]  |              |             |
-  |Mon. |A.M.|        |         |Amplitude|              |             |
-  |Day, | or |Latitude|Longitude|corrected|   Ship’s     | Magnetic    |
-  |and  |P.M.|   in.  |  in.    |for dip, |    head.     | amplitude.  |
-  |Year.|    |        |         |  &c.    |              |             |
-  +-----+-------------+---------+---------+--------------+-------------+
-  | 1814|    |        |         |         |              |             |
-  | May |    | North. |  East.  |         |              |             |
-  | 11  |A.M.| 53° 38 |  2° 22  |  24° 12 |     N.W.     |S. 61° 15´ E.|
-  | 12  |A.M.| 54  34 |  2  37  |  23  59 |   N.W._b_N.  |S. 61  20  E.|
-  | 16  |A.M.| 57   2 |  3  37  |  24   1 |    N.N.E.    |S. 66  45  E.|
-  | 16  |P.M.| 57  53 |  2  21  |  21  32 |  N_b_W.½W.   |N. 62  50  W |
-  | 17  |A.M.| 59   4 |  0  32  |  14  42 |    N._b_W.   |S. 75  20  E.|
-  | 24  |P.M.| 60  27 |  1  58  |  15  21 |  N.E._b_E.   |N. 50  15  W |
-  | 25  |A.M.| 60  27 |  2   0  |  27   6 |    N._b_W.   |S. 60  40  E.|
-  | 26  |P.M.| 60  52 |  2  50  |  18  33 |     N.E.     |N. 58  40  W |
-  |June |             |         |         |              |             |
-  |  2  |P.M.| 73  14 | 18  10  |  17  50 |  N.E._b_N.   |N. 60  30  W |
-  |  4  |P.M.| 74  27 | 19  58  |  19   9 |    W.S.W.    |N. 60  30  W |
-  |  8  |P.M.| 73  59 | 29  55  |  18  20 |  N.E._b_N.   |N. 66  15  W |
-  |  8  |P.M.| 74   0 | 29  52  |  15  22 |    W.S.W.    |N. 48  40  W |
-  | 13  |P.M.| 71  10 | 27  10  |   8  52 |   S.W.½S.    |N. 25   0  W |
-  | 18  |P.M.| 75  22 | 18  21  |  15   2 |   N._b_E.    |N. 37  50  W |
-  | 26  |P.M.| 78  11 |  6  55  |  20  38 |    E.S.E.    |N. 55   0  W |
-  |July |    |        |         |         |              |             |
-  |  3  |A.M.| 72  53 | 21  21  |  17  47 |    S.S.E.    |S. 78  40  E.|
-  | 22  |P.M.| 70  27 | 10  38  |  17  14 |    E.S.E.    |N. 61  30  W |
-  |Aug. |    |        |         |         |              |             |
-  |  1  |P.M.| 68  58 | 10  25  | 15  26  |     W.½N.    |N. 52  40  W |
-  |  2  |A.M.| 68  33 |  9  10  | 13  40  |  W.½_b_S.S.  |S. 79  32  E.|
-  |     |    |        |         |         |              |             |
-  |  2  |P.M.| 68  20 |  8  59  | 14  32  |    S.S.W.    |N. 55  30  W |
-  |  2  |P.M.| 68  20 |  8  59  | 13  50  |     West.    |N. 51  16  W |
-  |  2  |P.M.| 68  20 |  8  59  | 12  57  |  N.E._b_N.   |N. 56  20  W |
-  |     |             |         |         |              |             |
-  |  8  |P.M.| 67  37 |  3  20  | 15   6  |    South,    |N. 57  35  W |
-  | 11  |A.M.| 62  10 |  0  20  | 13  48  |    W._b_N.   |S. 65  55  E.|
-  |     |    |        |  West,  |         |              |             |
-  | 14  |A.M.| 61  23 |  0   6  | 20  18  |     W.½S.    |S. 52  30  E.|
-  | 14  |P.M.| 60  57 |  0  23  | 15  47  |    E.S.E.    |N. 60   0  W |
-  | 14  |P.M.| 60  57 |  0  10  |  3  00  |   W._b_S.    |N. 34  30  W |
-  | 15  |P.M.| 60  25 |  0  28  | 11  52  |    E.S.E.    |N. 62   0  W |
-  | 17  |P.M.| 59   7 |  -- --  | 13  23  |   W._b_S.    |N. 55  30  W |
-  |Sept.|    |        |  West,  |         |              |             |
-  |  2  |A.M.| 58  17 |  8  31  |  6  58  |     N.W.     |S. 61  15  E.|
-  |  2  |A.M.| 58  17 |  8  31  |  8  26  |    North.    |S. 62  17  E.|
-  |     |    |        |         |         |              |             |
-  | 13  |P.M.| 49  59 |  6  22  |  8  12  |   S.E._b_E.  |N. 71  30  W |
-  |     |    |        |         |         |              |             |
-  | 14  |A.M.| 49   6 |  -- --  | 19  5   |    . . .     |S. 46  30  E.|
-  |     |    |        |         |         |              |             |
-  | 14  |P.M.| --  -- |  -- --  | -- --   |    . . .     |N. 57   0  W |
-  +-----+-------------+---------+---------+--------------+-------------+
-
-  +-----+----------+-------+--------------------------------------------
-  |Mon. |          |       |
-  |Day, |Variation.|Differ-|           _Remarks, &c. &c._
-  |and  |          | ence. |
-  |Year.|          |       |
-  +-----+----------+-------+--------------------------------------------
-  | 1814|          |       |
-  | May |          |       |
-  | 11  | 24° 49´ W|       |Very good sights.
-  | 12  | 26  18   |       | --        --
-  | 16  | 21  35 } |  5° 25| --        --
-  | 16  | 27   0 } |       | --        --
-  | 17  | 27  40   |       | --        --
-  | 24  | 24  49   |       | --        --
-  | 25  | 24   4   |       | --        --
-  | 26  | 20  14   |       | --        --
-  |June |          |       |
-  |  2  | 11  35   |       |Very good. Sounded 100 fathoms, fine mud.
-  |  4  | 14  28   |       |Not very good.
-  |  8  |  4  55 } |  6  25|Very good.} Both sights were equally good.
-  |  8  | 11  20 } |       |Very good.} The ship was immediately put on
-  |     |          |       |             the other tack.
-  | 13  | 13  10   |       |Very good. North Cape N.W._b_W.½W. 5 leagues.
-  | 18  | 16  12   |       |Very good.
-  | 26  | 19   6   |       |Very good. Ship surrounded with ice.
-  |July |          |       |
-  |  3  |  9  22   |       |Very good.
-  | 22  | 16   6   |       |Very good.
-  |Aug. |          |       |
-  |  1  | 26  42   |       |Very good. Ship some motion.
-  |  2  | 25  14   |       |Very good.
-  |     |          |       |
-  |  2  | 22  4  } |       |All these sights were equally good. The evening
-  |  2  | 25  11 } |  7  37| was remarkably fine, with a light air from the
-  |  2  | 17  34 } |       | S.E. The first set was taken with the ship’s
-  |     |          |       | head S.S.W.; 2d set at West; and 3d set at
-  |     |          |       | N.E._b_N. The ship was put round in this
-  |     |          |       | manner for the purpose.
-  |  8  | 26  43   |       |The mean of six sets all good. The weather calm
-  |     |          |       | and fine.
-  | 11  | 31  15   |       |The mean of two sets ship steady. Longitude
-  |     |          |       | obtained by [sun], [moon], and chronometer.
-  | 14  | 30  36 } |  5   8|Very good.
-  | 14  | 25  28 } |       |Very good. North end of Shetland, S. 11° E.
-  |     |          |       | 5 or 6 leagues.
-  | 14  | 30  40 } | 10  25|Very good. North end of Shetland, S. 48° W.
-  |     |          |       | 4 or 5 leagues.
-  | 15  | 20  15 } |       |Very good. Outer Skerry, Shetland, S.S.W.
-  |     |          |       | 2 miles.
-  | 17  | 30  32   |       |Very good. Lamb Head, Orkneys, W.½S. 4 or
-  |     |          |       | 5 miles.
-  |Sept.|          |       |
-  |  2  | 33   1 } |       |Both these sights were good, and the ship was
-  |  2  | 29  31 } |  3  30| put on the courses, as given purposely. St.
-  |     |          |       | Kilda Island S. 9° W. 8 or 9 leagues. No
-  |     |          |       | soundings at 180 fathoms.
-  | 13  | 22  30   |       |At anchor in St. Mary’s. St. Agnes’s
-  |     |          |       | Light-House W. 54° S. Castle E. 51° S.
-  | 14  | 27  16   |       |This azimuth was taken on shore at St. Agnes’s
-  |     |          |       | Light-House, with false horizon.
-  | 14  | 27  31   |       |This amplitude was taken on shore at St. Mary’s
-  |     |          |       | flag-staff.--Most excellent.
-  +-----+----------+-------+--------------------------------------------
-
- [Transcriber's Note: The table was laid out in the original with the
- data on one page and the Remarks on the next, this table has been
- divided to fit the page constraints. The date column has been repeated
- for ease of reference. [sun] and [moon] are represented by symbols in
- the original.]
-
-No. IV.
-
-In the Appendix to the second volume of Flinders’ Voyage, which has
-lately been published, there is an article of considerable length
-and ability, on the Variation of the Compass. In that article,
-the observations made by that excellent sailor, corroborate, in a
-remarkable degree, and accord with those made in the Sybyll. I have
-selected a few of the most decisive instances.
-
-  +---------+----------+---------------+----------+------------+-------+
-  |  1802.  |   Lat.   |     Long.     |  Course. |    Var.    | Diff. |
-  +---------+----------+---------------+----------+------------+-------+
-  |  April  |          |               |          |            |       |
-  |22. A.M. | 39° 38´S.| 141° 40´E. az.|  W.S.W.  | 11° 52´E. }|       |
-  |24.      | 39  38   | 144   1       |    S.    |  7  59    }| 3° 53´|
-  |  July   |          |               |          |            |       |
-  |15. P.M. | 34   5   | 135   9       | S.E._b_E.|  1  33 W. }|       |
-  |--       | 34   6   | 135   9 ampl. | S.W._b_W.|  3  56 E. }| 5  39 |
-  |28.      | 25   0   | 153  23       | N.W._b_N.|  9  39    }|       |
-  |29.      | 24  43   | 153  27       | S.E.½S.  |  6  33    }| 3   6 |
-  +---------+----------+---------------+----------+------------+-------+
-
-After such a coincidence, the fact of the variations depending greatly
-on the ship’s course cannot possibly be called in question; though it
-is certainly surprising that it has not been sooner attended to in the
-way that it deserves, by other navigators; for it did not altogether
-escape their observations. Mr. Wales, astronomer to Captain Cook’s
-ship, the Resolution, had made the same observations in a pretty
-accurate manner; and M. Entrecasteaux, though without assigning any
-cause, says, that the “Compass showed differences of several degrees in
-variation at sea, though observed with the greatest care, and within
-the space of a few minutes.”
-
-After a more enlarged series of observations shall have been taken,
-and after the attention of astronomers is directed to this fact, we
-may confidently expect a most important improvement in the science of
-navigation.
-
-
-No. V.
-
-The following article, “ON THE TREMENDOUS CONCUSSIONS OF THE FIELDS
-OF ICE,” in the Arctic Sea, is extracted from Mr. Scoresby’s valuable
-Memoir on “Polar Ice” in the Wernerian Society’s Transactions.
-
-“The occasional rapid motion of fields, with the strange effects
-produced on any opposing substance, exhibited by such bodies, is one
-of the most striking objects this country presents, and is certainly
-the most terrific. They not unfrequently acquire a rotatory movement,
-whereby their circumference attains a velocity of several miles per
-hour. A field, thus in motion, coming in contact with another at rest,
-or more especially with a contrary direction of movement, produces a
-dreadful shock. A body of more than ten thousand millions of tons in
-weight,[38] meeting with resistance, when in motion, the consequences
-may possibly be conceived!
-
- [38] A field of thirty nautical miles square surface, and thirteen
- feet in thickness, would weigh somewhat more than is here mentioned.
- Allowing it to displace the water in which it floats, to the depth of
- eleven feet, the weight would appear to be 10,182,857,142, nearly in
- the proportion of a cubic foot of sea water to 64 lbs.
-
-“The weaker field is crushed with an awful noise: sometimes the
-destruction is mutual. Pieces of huge dimensions and weight are not
-unfrequently piled upon the top, to the height of twenty or thirty
-feet, whilst doubtless a proportionate quantity is depressed beneath.
-The view of those stupendous effects in _safety_, exhibits a picture
-sublimely grand, but where there is danger of being overwhelmed, terror
-and dismay must be the predominant feelings. The whale-fishers at
-all times require unremitting vigilance to secure their safety, but
-scarcely in any situation, so much as when navigating amidst those
-fields. In foggy weather they are particularly dangerous, as their
-motion cannot then be distinctly observed. It may easily be imagined,
-that the strongest ship can no more withstand the shock of the contact
-of two fields, than a sheet of paper can stop a musket ball. Numbers
-of vessels, since the establishment of the fishery, have been thus
-destroyed. Some have been thrown upon the ice; some have had their
-hulls completely torn open; and others have been buried beneath the
-heaped fragments of the ice.
-
-“In the year 1804, I had a good opportunity of witnessing the effects
-produced by the lesser masses in motion. Passing between two fields
-of bay-ice, about a foot in thickness, they were observed rapidly to
-approach each other, and before our ship could pass the strait, they
-met, with a velocity of three or four miles per hour; the one overlaid
-the other, and presently covered many acres of surface. The ship
-proving an obstacle to the course of the ice, it squeezed up on both
-sides, shaking her in a dreadful manner, and producing a loud grinding,
-or lengthened and acute tremulous noise, accordingly as the degree of
-pressure was diminished or increased, until it had risen as high as
-the deck. After about two hours, the velocity was diminished to a state
-of rest; and, soon afterwards, the two sheets of ice receded from each
-other nearly as rapidly as they had before advanced. The ship, in this
-case, did not receive any injury; but had the ice been only half a foot
-thicker, she would probably have been wrecked.
-
-“In the month of May of the present year (1813) I witnessed a more
-tremendous scene. Whilst navigating amidst the most ponderous ice which
-the Greenland seas present, in the prospect of making our escape from
-a state of _besetment_, our progress was unexpectedly arrested by an
-isthmus of ice, about a mile in breadth, formed by the coalition of the
-point of an immense _field_ on the north, with that of an aggregation
-of _floes_ on the south. To the north field we moored the ship, in the
-hope of the ice separating in this place. I then quitted the ship, and
-travelled over the ice to the point of collision, to observe the state
-of the bar which now prevented our release. I immediately discovered
-that the two points had but recently met; that already a prodigious
-mass of rubbish had been squeezed upon the top, and that the motion had
-not abated. The fields continued to overlay each other with a majestic
-motion, producing a noise resembling that of complicated machinery, or
-distant thunder. The pressure was so immense, that numerous fissures
-were occasioned, and the ice repeatedly rent beneath my feet. In one
-of the fissures, I found the snow on the level to be three and a half
-feet deep, and the ice upwards of twelve. In one place, hummocks had
-been thrown up to the height of twenty feet from the surface of the
-field, and at least twenty-five feet from the level of the water;
-they extended fifty or sixty yards in length, and fifteen in breadth,
-forming a mass of about two thousand tons in weight. The majestic
-unvaried movement of the ice--the singular noise with which it was
-accompanied--the tremendous power exerted--and the wonderful effects
-produced--were calculated to excite sensations of novelty and grandeur,
-in the mind of even the most careless Spectator!
-
-“Sometimes these motions of the ice may be accounted for. Fields
-are disturbed by currents--the wind--or the pressure of other ice
-against them. Though the set of the current be generally towards the
-south-west, yet it seems occasionally to vary; the wind forces all ice
-to leeward, with a velocity nearly in the inverse proportion to its
-depth under water; light ice consequently drives faster than heavy ice,
-and loose ice than fields: loose ice meeting the side of a field in its
-course, becomes deflected, and its re-action causes a circular motion
-of the field. Fields may approximate each other from three causes:
-_First_, If the lighter ice be to windward, it will, of necessity,
-be impelled towards the heavier; _secondly_, As the wind frequently
-commences blowing on the windward side of the ice, and continues
-several hours before it is felt a few miles distant to leeward, the
-field begins to drift before the wind can produce any impression on
-ice, on its opposite side; and, _thirdly_, Which is not an uncommon
-case, by the two fields being impelled towards each other, by winds
-acting on each from opposite quarters.
-
-“The closing of heavy ice, encircling a quantity of bay ice, causes it
-to run together with such force, that it overlaps wherever two sheets
-meet, until it sometimes attains the thickness of many feet. Drift
-ice does not often coalesce with such a pressure as to endanger any
-ship which may happen to be _beset_ in it: when, however, land opposes
-its drift, or the ship is a great distance immured amongst it, the
-pressure is sometimes alarming.”
-
-
-No. VI.
-
- _On the approximation towards the Poles, and on the possibility of
- reaching the North Pole. From Mr. Scoresby’s paper in the Wernerian
- Society’s Transactions._
-
-“We have already remarked, that the 80th degree of north latitude is
-almost annually accessible to the Greenland whale-fishers, and that
-this latitude, on particular occasions, has been exceeded. In one of
-the first attempts which appears to have been made to explore the
-circumpolar regions, in the year 1607, Henry Hudson penetrated the
-ice on the north-western coast of Spitzbergen to the latitude of 80°
-23´ N. In 1773, Captain Phipps, in “a voyage towards the North Pole,”
-advanced, on a similar track, to 80° 37´ of north latitude. In the year
-1806, the ship Resolution of Whitby, commanded by my father, (whose
-extraordinary perseverance and nautical ability are well appreciated by
-those in the Greenland trade, and proved by his never-failing success,)
-was forced, by astonishing efforts, through a vast body of ice, which
-commenced in the place of the usual _barrier_, but exceeded its general
-extent, by at least a hundred miles. We[39] then reached a navigable
-sea, and advanced without hindrance, to the latitude of 81½ north, a
-distance of only 170 leagues from the pole; which is, I imagine, one of
-the most extraordinary approximations yet realized.”
-
- [39] “I accompanied my father, on this voyage, in the capacity of
- chief mate.”
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-“The southern hemisphere, towards the pole, was explored by Captain
-Cook, in various meridians, and with indefatigable perseverance. In
-his first attempt, in 1772, they met with ice in about 51° south, and
-longitude 21° east. They saw great fields in 55° south, on the 17th of
-January, 1773, and, on February the 24th, were stopped by field-ice in
-62° south latitude, and 95° east longitude.
-
-“Again, on the second attempt, in December of the same year, they first
-met with ice in about 62° south latitude, and 172-173° west longitude;
-and on the 15th, saw field-ice in 66°. On the 30th January, 1774, they
-were stopped by immense ice-fields in latitude 71° 10´ 30´´ and 107°
-west longitude, which was the most considerable approximation towards
-the south pole that had ever been effected.
-
-“Thus, it appears, that there subsists a remarkable difference between
-the two hemispheres, with regard to the approach of the ice towards
-the equator; the ice of the southern being much less pervious, and
-extending to much lower latitudes than that of the northern hemisphere.
-
-“That the 73d or 74th degree of north latitude can be attained at any
-season of the year, whereas the 71st degree of south latitude has been
-but once passed.--And,
-
-“That, whilst the antarctic _ne plus ultra_ appears to be the 72d
-degree of latitude, that of the arctic extends full 600 miles farther;
-the nearest approach to the southern pole being a distance of 1130
-miles, but to the north, only 510 miles.
-
-“With regard to the probability of exploring the regions more
-immediately in the vicinity of the pole than has yet been accomplished,
-or even of reaching the pole itself, I anticipate, that, without
-reference to the reasoning on which the opinion is grounded, it might
-be deemed the frenzied speculation of a disordered fancy. I flatter
-myself, however, that I shall be able to satisfy the Society, that
-the performance of a journey over a surface of ice, from the north of
-Spitzbergen to the pole, is a project which might be undertaken, with
-at least a probability of success.
-
-“It must be allowed, that many known difficulties would require to be
-surmounted--many dangers to be encountered--and that some circumstances
-might possibly occur, which would at once annul the success of the
-undertaking. Of these classes of objections, the following strike me
-as being the most formidable, which, after briefly stating, I shall
-individually consider in their order.
-
- 1. The difficulty of performing a journey of 1200 miles, 600 going
- and 600 returning, over a surface of ice--of procuring a sufficient
- conveyance--and of carrying a necessary supply of provisions and
- apparatus, as well as attendants.
-
- “The difficulties may be increased by
-
-  (_a._) Soft snow;
-  (_b._) Want of continuity of the ice;
-  (_c._) Rough ice; and
-  (_d._) Mountainous ice.
-
- “2. The difficulty of ascertaining the route, and especially of the
- return, arising from the perpendicularity of the magnetical needle.
-
- “3. Dangers to be apprehended,
-
-  (_a._) From excessive cold;
-  (_b._) From wild beasts.“
-
- “4. Impediments which would frustrate the scheme;
-
-  (_a._) Mountainous land;
-  (_b._) Expanse of sea;
-  (_c._) Constant cloudy atmosphere.
-
-“1. It is evident that a journey of 1200 miles, under the existing
-difficulties, would be too arduous a task to be undertaken and
-performed by human exertions alone, but would require the assistance of
-some fleet quadrupeds, accustomed to the harness.
-
-“Rein-deer, or dogs, appear to be the most appropriate. If the former
-could sustain a sea-voyage, they might be refreshed in the northern
-part of Spitzbergen, which affords their natural food. They could be
-yoked to sledges framed of the lightest materials, adapted for the
-accommodation of the adventurers, and the conveyance of the requisites.
-The provision for the adventurers, for compactness, might consist
-of portable soups, potted meats, &c. and compressed lichen for the
-rein-deer. The instruments and apparatus might be in a great measure
-confined to indispensables, and those of the most portable kinds; such
-as tents, defensive weapons, sextants, chronometers, magnetic needles,
-thermometers, &c.
-
-“As the rein-deer is, however, a delicate animal, difficult to guide,
-and might be troublesome if thin or broken ice were required to be
-passed; dogs would seem, in some respects, to be preferable. In either
-case, the animals must be procured from the countries wherein they are
-trained, and drivers would probably be required with them. The journey
-might be accelerated, by expanding a sail to every favourable breeze,
-at the same time, the animals would be relieved from the oppression
-of their draughts. It would appear, from the reputed speed of the
-rein-deer, that, under favourable circumstances, the journey might be
-accomplished even in a fortnight, allowing time for rest and accidental
-delays. It would require a month or six weeks with dogs, at a moderate
-speed; and, in the event of the failure of these animals on the
-journey, it does not seem impossible that the return should be effected
-on foot, with sledges for the provisions and apparatus.
-
-“(_a._) Soft snow would diminish the speed, and augment the fatigue of
-the animal; to avoid which, therefore, it would be necessary to set
-out by the close of the month of April, or the beginning of May; or at
-least, some time before the severity of the frost should be too greatly
-relaxed.
-
-“(_b._) Want of continuity of the ice would certainly occasion a
-troublesome interruption; it might nevertheless be overcome, by having
-the sledges adapted to answer the purpose of boats[40]; and it is to
-be expected, that although openings amidst the ice should occur, yet a
-winding course might in general be pursued, so as to prevent any very
-great stoppage.
-
- [40] The sledges might consist of slender frames of wood, with the
- ribs of some quadruped, and coverings of water-proof skins, or other
- materials equally light.
-
-“(_c._) Many of the most prodigious fields are entirely free from
-abrupt hummocks from one extremity to the other, and field ice, as it
-appears in general, would be easily palpable.
-
-“(_d._) The degree of interruption from mountainous ice would depend on
-the quality of its surface. If, as is most probable, it were smooth,
-and free from abrupt slopes, it would not prevent the success of the
-expedition.
-
-“2. The direct route would be pointed out, for some part of the way at
-least, by the magnetic needle; and when its pole should be directed
-towards the zenith, should that position ever obtain, the sun would
-be the only guide. Or, the position of the true north being once
-ascertained, three sledges in a line, at a convenient distance apart,
-might enable the leading one to keep a direct course. A chronometer
-would be an indispensable requisite, as the opportunity for lunar
-observations could not be expected to occur sufficiently often. Were
-the Pole gained, the bearing of the sun at the time of noon, by a
-chronometer adjusted to the meridian of north-west Spitzbergen, would
-afford a line of direction for the return; and, the position, in regard
-to longitude, (were the sun visible) could be corrected, at least twice
-a-day, as the latitude decreased. The degrees of longitude being so
-contracted, any required position would be pointed out by the watch
-with the greatest precision.
-
-“3. (_a._) Among the dangers to be apprehended, the coldness of the
-air stands prominent. As, however, the cold is not sensibly different,
-between the latitudes of 70° and 80° with a strong north wind, it may
-be presumed that at the Pole itself, it would be very little more
-oppressive than at the borders of the main ice, in the 81st degree
-of north latitude, under a hard northerly gale: And since this cold
-is supportable, that of the Pole may be deemed so likewise. The
-injurious effects of the severity of the weather might be avoided by
-a judicious choice of woollen clothing, the external air being met by
-an outward garment of varnished silk, and the face defended by a mask,
-with eyes of glass. The exterior garment, would, at the same time, be
-water-proof, and thus capable of shielding the body from accidental
-moisture.
-
-“(_b._) The white bear is the only ferocious animal known to inhabit
-those regions, and he rarely makes an attack upon man. At any rate,
-he might be repulsed by any offensive weapon. And, as the prey of the
-bears is scarce in the most northern latitudes, they would not probably
-occur in any abundance.
-
-“4. Hitherto no insurmountable objection has been presented: a few
-serious obstacles, should they occur, remain to be considered.
-
-“(_a._) Mountainous land, like mountainous ice, would check the
-progress of the expedition, in proportion to the ruggedness of its
-surface and the steepness of its cliffs. Its occurrence would,
-nevertheless, form an interesting discovery.
-
-“(_b._) From the pretended excursions of the Dutch, many have believed
-that the sea at the Pole is free from ice. Were this really the case,
-the circumstance would certainly be an extraordinary one; but I
-consider it too improbable to render it necessary to hazard any opinion
-concerning it.
-
-“(_c._) From the facts stated in pages 319, 320, of this paper, I think
-we derive a sanction for calculating on clear weather at all times, but
-with southerly storms; and, as these occur but rarely, the progress of
-the journey would not probably be suspended by an obscure sky, except
-for short periods, and at distant intervals.
-
-“Notwithstanding I have now distinctly considered every obvious
-objection and difficulty to be surmounted, I am nevertheless sensible,
-that in the realising of any project or discovery, whether by sea or on
-land, there will occur many adventitious circumstances, which may tend
-to mar the progress of the best regulated expedition. Therefore, it
-may not be improper to confirm and strengthen the whole, by directing
-the attention to what has been done, in journeying under difficulties
-which may bear a comparison with the undertaking here alluded to, and
-occasionally under circumstances the most unfavourable to success.
-
-“1st, When treating of icebergs, I alluded to the journey of ALEXEI
-MARKOFF, in which it appears, that he performed near eight hundred
-miles across a surface of packed ice, in the spring of 1715, in a
-sledge drawn by dogs; and consequently, that he might be supposed to
-have encountered the principal difficulties that could be expected in
-the proposed scheme, whilst we have the advantage of improving by his
-experience.
-
-“2d, Speaking of the south-western tendency of the ice, I have also
-noticed the loss of several of the Dutch Greenland fleet in 1777, from
-which we learn, that part of the unfortunate suffering crews, under
-every privation of provision and clothing, and exposed to the severity
-of an Arctic winter, accomplished a journey on foot, along the coasts
-of Old Greenland, from the east side, near Staten Hook, to the Danish
-settlements on the west, a distance of near a hundred leagues.
-
-“3d, On contrasting the projected polar journey with the catalogue of
-marvellous occurrences, and wonderful preservations which are exhibited
-in the records of maritime disasters,[41] the difficulties of the
-undertaking in a great measure vanish, and its dangers are eclipsed
-by the wonderful results which necessity has, in various instances
-accomplished.”
-
- [41] “See Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea.”
-
-
-FINIS.
-
-
-
-
-_Extracts from Reviews in Recommendation of this Work._
-
-
- “Mr. LAING performed two Voyages to Greenland, in the successive years
- of 1806 and 1807, as Surgeon, under the elder Captain Scoresby; whose
- son acted, at that time, as chief mate. His narrative is written
- with neatness, simplicity, and taste; and comprises, in a very small
- compass, what information could be desired on the subject of which it
- treats.”
-
-  _Edinburgh Review, No. LIX._
-
- “Mr. Laing’s sensible and unpretending Narrative of a ’Voyage to
- Spitzbergen,’ forms an admirable contrast to the pompous and frothy
- quarto of Bernard O’Reilly, Esq.”
-
-  _Quarterly Review, No. XXXVII._
-
- “In the little Volume before us, we have an interesting addition made
- to the natural history of regions of which our knowledge is as yet,
- comparatively speaking, but imperfect. Mr. Laing has been evidently
- a diligent and acute observer, and communicates the fruits of his
- observation in a simple and perspicuous manner.”
-
-  _Philosophical Magazine, Vol. LI. No. CCXXXVIII._
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-
-Transcriber’s Notes
-
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