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The shal TINI whii Map diffe entii begi right requ metl r~71 Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppiimentaires; Pagination as follows : (10], [I] - CCXXXIV, CCXXXIII* - CCXXXIV* , CCXXXV-CCCXXXIV, [8] p. Wrinkled pages may film slightly out of focus. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filmd au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous. 1QX 14X 1SX 22K 26X 30X y 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X 9 Stalls s du lodifier r une Image irrata to pelure, n d .nce of that liberal patron of fcience, my refpe^ed friend the Honor- able Daines Harrington. The Reverend Mr. William Coxe enriched me with num. bers of obfervations colledred in his well-known travels or tranflated for my ufe from the feveral authors who have treated of the Antiquities or Natural Hiftory of the north. Let me clofe the lift with acknowledging the great affiftance I have found in the Synopfis of Birds by Mr. John Latham - a work now brought to a conclufion, and which contains a far greater number of defcriptions than any which has gone before This is owing not only to the affiduity of the Author, but alfo to the peculiar fpirit of the EngliJ], nation, which has, in its voyages to the moft remote and moft oppofite parts of the globe payed attention to every branch of fcience. Let me add alfo, that moft comprehenfive work of his, x\,^ Index Ornithohgkus. The advantages are pointed out by the able pen of the Reverend ^ Dodor ADVERTISEMENT. Dodor Douglas *, in his Introdud:ion to the laft Voyage of our great navigator, publiflied (under the aufpices of the Lords of the Admiralty) in a manner which refleds bo»ior on our country in general, and will prove a moft lafting monument to the memory of the great Officer who fo unfortunately perifhed by favage hands, and his two able conforts, who at length funk beneath the preflure of fatigue, in carrying the glory of difco- very far beyond the attempts of every preceding adventurer. I have been often reproached for not giving a map with the ArBic Zoology.. The reader is now prefented with two, which were given with the Supplement to the firfl edition. Thefe were done by that excellent artift Mr. William Palmer, the engraver of thofe in Captain Coox's laft voyage ; and of an admirable map oit\iQ American and AJiatic part, formed by the much lamented, the late Captain James King. Thefe maps have been the foun- dation of mine j with certain additions from that v/hich illuftrates the voyage of Lord Mulgp ave tov/ards the north pole. I have taken the liberty of making fome flight alterations ; and have made the addition of feveral names, peculiarlyadapted to the work they are defigncd to explain. In the prefent edition the map of Nort/j America has received confiderable improvements on the weftern fide. I am much obliged to Captain Abraham Dixon for his valuable corredions ; for he has given the recent difcoveries made by himfelf. Captain Meares, and Captain Du?ican. The coaft from the Icy Cape to the mouth of the Copper Mine River, is laid down from imagination, and the fame from thence to * Who now wortJ^ily fiJ!s the See of Salijbury, Greenland, 'I A D V E R T I s E.ME N T. Greenland, except in a few places where ithad been flighdv fecn by nav.ga.ors. A little to the eaft of the C^pr Mine Iw. the fta ts made to advance ibmewhat more inland, on a conjefta e of Uu&ame, that a river which falls into the C./^^ Mine he Copter W ufelf. j have been obliged to go far lower than lat. 60, towh.chI profeffedlydefignedtolimitmy northern en- Tu ^,7'*,''f^°">"«d great part oe^„,erica. the glorious Jld of the dfcoveries of our immortal Cook. Thofe'of th 2? r '""''''' '"' '"' "°*'"S negledled that could fling light on the attempts of this bufy age. ^ Downing, March I, 1792. THOMAS PENNANT. PLATES. *i ita | i » H F PLATE S. ROf»TTISPIECE, a winter fcene in Lapland^ with Aurora Borealis: the Arctic Fox, Ermine, Snowy Owl, and White Grous. Tab. I. Tht C^yt^ o( Caujfte m Murray — — . xxiv II. Rocks of fingular forms near .y^^i:^^!? — xxvi III. The Doreholm, a fmall ifle, one of the Schetlandsy perforated with a vaft arch — — xxxvi IV. Bird-catching in one of the Or^»j.tt<>. Nunc ibi deformes ponunt fua corpora phocs. ■ II — fylvafque tenent delphines, et altis Incurfant ramis, agitataque robora pulfant. In procefs of time this tradt underwent another revolution. The/// or mud gained fo confiderably as to leave vaft fpaces dry, and other parts fo fhallow as to encourage the Romans to regain thefe fertilized countries from the fea. Thofe fenfible and indefatigable people firft taught us the art of embanking, and recovered the valuable lands we now poffefs. It was die complaint of GalgacuSy that thpy exhaufted the ftrength of the Britons, injyhis et paludibus emuniendis *, * in clearing woods and drain- ing marfhcs.' After the Romans deferted our ifland, another change took place. Negled of their labors fucceeded : the drains were no longer kept open, and the whole became fen and fhallow lake, refembling the prefent eaft fen j the haunt of myriads of water-fowl, or the retreat of banditti, £(y and many litde tradls which had the advantage of elevation, were at that period literally iflands. Several of thefe in early times became the retreat of religious. Elyy I'homeyj Ramfeyy Spiney^ and others, rofe into celebrated abbies, and by the induflry of their inhabitants firft began to reftore the works of the Romans. The country above Thomey is repre- fented by an old hiftorian •{■ as a paradife. Conftant vifitations, founded on wholefome laws, preferved this vaft recovered country : but on the rapid and rapacious difiblution, the removal of numbers of the inhabitants, and the negledt of the laws of the Sewers, the drains were filled, the culti- vated land overflowed, and the country again reduced to a ufelefs morafsj. • Fita Jgrico/a. f Malmfiury, lib. Iv. 294. J Compare Sir W. DugjaWa maps of this traft, in its moraffy and drained ftate. HiJI. £»i^<}»i(. p. 375.^16. In ENGLAND. In the twentieth of Elizabeih the ftate of the country was taken into con- fideration*; no great matters were done till the time oi Francis and miliatn his fon, earls o^ Bedford, who attempted this Herculean work, and reclamed this vaft trad of more than three hundred thoufand acres • and the laft received, under fanftion of parlement, the juft reward of ninety thoufand acres. I fpeak not of the reliques of the antient banks which I have feen in Holland in Lincolnjhire, now remote from the fea, nor yet of :he Roman tumuli, the coins, and other evidences of the refidence of that nation in thefe parts j they would fwell a mere preface to too great a length : and, it is to be hoped, will be undertaken by the pen of fome native, who will perform it from his aftual furvey. The vaft fenny trads of thefe counties were in old times the haunts of multitudes of water-fowl; but the happy change, by attention to drain- ing has fubftituted in their place thoufands of Iheep; or, inftead of reeds, made thofe trafts laugh with corn. The Crane, which once abounded in thefe parts, has even deferted our ifland. The Common Wild Duck ftill breeds in multitudes in the unreclamed parts ; and thoufands are fent annually to the London markets, from the numerous decoys. The Grey Lag Goose, the origin of the Tame, breeds here, and is refident the whole year : a few others of the Duck kind breed here. Ruffs, Red- shanks, Lapwings, Red-breasted Godwits, and Whimbrels, are found here during fummerj but, with their young, in autumn, difperfe about the ifland. The Short-eared Owl migrates here with the Wood. COCK, and IS a welcome gueft to the farmer, by clearing the fields of mice. Knots fwarm on the coafts in winter : are taken in numbers in nets : yet none are km during fummer f. The rnoft diitant north is pro- bably the retreat of the multitude of water-fowl of each order which ftock our fliores, driven fouthward by the extreme cold : rnoft of them regu- larly, others, whofe na: .re enables them to brave the ufual winters of the XT • Hijl. Embank, p. 375. t See Ttur in Scotland, 1769 ; Lincoln/hire, where the fen birds are enumerated. C 2 frigid XII >:i ' !: I' ! I ENGLAND. frigid zone, are with us only accidental guefts, and in feafons when the frdfk rages in their native land with unufual feverity. On Cbriftmas day of the fevere winter of 1785, Doftor Aikin obferved numbers of flocks of a certain fpecies of Duck flying fouthward oflTthe coaft near rarmouth. Each flock confifted of a party from ten to fixty. No fooner did one difappear but another fucceeded, and fo they continued as long as he looked on, which was above two hours : probably, they con- tinued the whole day. They kept at about the diftance of five hundred yards from the Ihore, fo that the fpecies was not to be afcertained. About the fame day in 1786, Doftor Aikin obferved only one flock, keeping the fame courfe and the fame difl:ance. The mildnefs of the feafon (for on that diflTerence depends the migration of the feathered tribe) made it un- neceflary for them to feek more genial climates. In the latitude of Bofton, or about lat. 53, the following remark may be made on the vegetable creation :— A line may be drawn to the oppofite part of the kingdom, which will comprehend a fmall portion of the north of Norfolk, the grcatcft part of Lmolnjhire, Nottingbamjhire, Derhyjhirey the moorlands of Staffordjhire, all Chejhire, Flintjhire, Denbighjhire, Caer- narvonjhirey and yhglefty. Beyond this line, nature hath allotted to the northern part of thefe kingdoms certain plants, of which an enumeration will be given in the Appendix, and which are rarely or never found to tranf- grefs that line to the fouth. From Clea Ne/s, the land retires weftward, and, with the oppofite Ihore of Torkjhtre, bounds the great eftuary of the Number , which, winding deep into the country, is the receptacle of the rrent, and all the confiderable rivers of that vaft province ; fome of which arife in its moft remote parts All thefe coaflis of Lincolnjbire are flat, and have been gained from the fea. Barton and Barrow have not at prefent the left appearance of ports • yet by Holinjhed were ftyled good ones ♦. Similar accidents have befallen the upper part of the low trad of Holdernejs, which faces the congruent ihores. Hidon, a few miles below Hulk feveral hundred years ago a port Defer. Britain, 1 08. of ENGLAND. of great commerce, is now a mile and a half from the water, and has long given way to the rifing fortune of the latter (a creation of Edwatd I. in 1296) on account of the excellency of its port. But in return, the fea has made moft ample reprifals on the lands of this hundred : the fite, and even the very names of feveral places, once towns of note upon the Number, are now only recorded in hiftory : and Ravenjper was at one time a rival to Hull*-, and a port fo very confiderable in 1332, that Edward Baliol and the confederated Englijh barons failed from hence with a great fleet to invade Scotland i and Henry IV. in 1399, made choice of this port to land at, to effeft the depofal of Richard II. yet the whole -f it has long fince been devoured by the mercilefs ocean : extenfive fands, dry at low water, are to be fecn in their ftead j except Sunk IJland, which, till about the year 1666, appeared among them like an elevated fhoal, at which pe- riod it was regained, by embankments, from the feaj and now forms a confiderable eftate, probably reftorcd to its priftine condition. Spurn Heady the Ocelum Promontorium of Ptolmyy terminates this fide of the Humber, at prefent in form of a fickle, near which the wind-bound fhips anclior fecurely. The place on which the lighthoufes ftand is a vaft beach near two miles long, mixed with fand-hills flung up by the fea within the laft feventy years. The land from hence for fome miles is compofcd of very lofty cliflTs of brown clay, perpetually preyed on by the niry of the German fea, which devours whole acres at a time, and expofes on the fliores confiderable quan- tities of beautiful amber. Fine wheat grows on the clay, even to the edge of the clifl^s. A country of the fame fertility reaches from Kilnfey, near this place, as far as the village o{ Sprottly, extending, in a waved form, for numbers of miles i and, when I faw it, richly cloathed with wheat and beans. ^ From near Kilnjey the land bends very gently inward, as far as the great promontory of Flamborough j and is a continuance of high clayey cliflT, till about the village of Hornfey. Near it is a mere, noted for its Eels and • MfiJex.Ant.Exch. 1422. XIII Spurn Head. Amber. Pikes ¥iSS ■, f V. XIT Bridlington Pay. Flamborovgh Head. ENGLAND. Pikes, at prefent feparated from the fea by fo fmall a fpace as to render iti fpeedy deftruftion very probable. A ftreet, called Homjey Becky has long fince been fwallowed : and of Hide, a neighbouring town, only the tradition is left. The country grows confiderably lower ; and, near the bafe of the pro- montory, retires fo far in as to form Bridlington bay, antiently called Ga- brantovicorum Sinus, to which the Geographer adds EuAjjiaiv©^, on account of the excellency and fafcty of its port, where veflels ride in full fecurity under the fhelter of the lofty head-land. Smitbie fand, the only one be- tween Flamborough and Spurn Head, ftretches acrofs the entrance into Bridlington bay, and, in hard gales from the South and South-eaft, adds to the fecurity of that noble afylum for the coafting veflels. Sureify, an adjacent village, feems no more than a tranflation from the old appella- tion. The Romans, in all probability, had a naval ftation here j for here ends the road, vifible in many places between this place and Tork, and named, from its founders, the Roman ridge. The head is formed of lime-ftone, of a fnowy whitenefs *, of a ftu- pendous height, and vaft magnificence, vifible far at fea. If we may depend on Richard of Cirencejier, the Romans named it Brigantum Extrema, and the bay Tortus Felix. The Saxons ftyled the cape Fleamburg, per- haps from the lights which directed the great Ida, founder of the Northum- berland kingdom, to land here, in 547, with a great body of their coun- trymen. • Soft near the top, and of a crumbling quality when expofed long to the froft. At the foot of the cliff it is hard, folid, and fmooth. Boats are employed every fumr in carrying great quantities to SunJerland, where it is burnt into excellent lime. T.^c*. of the lime-ftone ufed at Scarborough is made from ftones flung up by the fea. It may be remarked, that whatfoever degree of hardnefs any lime-ftone poflefles in the quarry, the mortar mad» from it, by proper management, may be made as hard, but by no mear.i harder. Moft of the houfes in and about London are built with lime made of chalk ; hence the many miferable cafualties there, by the fall of houfes. The workmen, fen- fible of the weaknefs of that kind of mortar, endeavour to keep the walls together by lodg- ing frames of timber in them ; which being confumed in cafes of fire, the whole building tumbles fuddenly, and renders all attempts to cxtinguifli the fire very dangerous. — Mr. Travis. The I ENGLAND, The vaft height of the precipices, and the amazing grandeur of the cavern, which open on the north fide, giving wide and folemn admiffion through n,oft exalted arches, into the body of the mountain, togethTr* ft gf "»'.f«'i- "flight, the deep nience of the place uiiefsC" rupted by the ftr,k,ng of the oar, the collifion of a fweLg wave aga "ft the fides, or the loud flutter of the pigeons affrighted from their nef in e d,ftan. roof, afford pleafures of fcenery which fuch fon^ations ZZ aonecanyeld. Thefe alfo are wonderfully diverfified. In fome p „ the caverns penetrate far, and end in darknefs , in others are pervious, and g.ve a romantic paflage by another opening equally fuperb Many of .h rocks are .nfulated, of a pyramidal form, and foar ,o a gi^at heighf II let H^Vrl"""' "■" '" '°™ P'^^'"" *-8'' -i -bed! A 1 are covered wth the dung of the innumerable flocks of migratoiy bird, hde which wiU give them leave to reft. Mulrittides were fwi;mi^ .bout , othe« fwamned in the air, and ftunned „s with the variety ofThd? i« a™^ G.U.HMOTS Auks, Puppi.s, Sh.os, and Co«vo..m„, are among the fpecies which refort hither. The notes of all fea-fowl are moft harlh and i„hai™onious. I have often refted under rocks I kt IT attentive to the various founds over my head , which, mixed with Ae dl' roar of the waves flowly fwelling, and retiring from the vaft caverns S neath, have produced a fine effeft. The Iharp voice of the Gulls the frequent chatter of the Guillemots, the lotid notes of the Auks the toeam of the Hbroks, together with the deep periodical croak of the ..ORvoR.»Ts, which ferves as a bafs to the reft, have often furnifl,^ me ■n an ,gh degree that fpecies of pleaftire which refults from the noveltv and the gloomy majefty of the entertainment. ^ At J?&miore«^i head commence the hard or rockvcoaftsoffH.fi J. /• r. C«....^, which continue, with the interruptifn^^f few tdjt; '"" "'"' and low land ,o the extremity of the kingdom. It often happens Z the bottom of the fea partakes of the nature of die neighboring' demet " thus. XV SICIN, ' .111 I 1 f i XVI ENGLAND. Haddocks. f! I i I th.m,abo\itFlamhr(iugb head, and a few miles to the northward (in places) the fhorcs are rocicy, and the haunts of lobftcrs and other cruftaceous animals. From thefe ftrata a traft of fine fand, from one to five miles in breadth, extends floping eaftward, and from its edge to that of the Dogger-bank is a deep bottom, rugged, rocky, and cavernous, and in moft parts over- grown with corallines and fubmarine plants. This difpofition of fhore gives to the inhabitants of this coaft the ad- vantageous fifhery which they poffefs ; for th'- fhore on one hand, and the edges of the Dogger-bank on the other, like the fides of a decoy, give a diredion to the immenfe Ihoals of the Cod genus, which annually migrate from the northern ocean, to vifit, refide, and fpawn, in the parts adjacent to our coafts. They find plenty of food from the plants of the rocks, and the worms of the fand, and fecure flicker for their fpawn in the cavernous part of the fcarry bottom. It is in the channel between the banks and the fliores, in which the Cod are taken, or in the hollows between the Doggers and Well-btoik i for they do not like the agitation of the water on the fhallows. On the contrary, the Skates, the Holibuts, Flounders, and other flat fifh, bury themfelves in the fand, and fecure themfclves from the turbulence of the waves. An amazing fhoal of Haddocks vifit this coaft periodically, generally about the tenth of December^ and continue there all January. They ex- tend from the ftiore near five miles in breadth, and packed as clofe as they can fwim j and in length from Flamborougb head to Tinmoutb caftle, perhaps to Berwick, Their inner edge is only a mile from the fhore. They arc entirely taken by the hook, the ufe of the net being prohibited, much to the injury of this fpecies of commerce. An army of a fmall fpc- cies of Shark, the Picked, Br. Zool. iii. N° 40, flanks the outfide of this (hoal to prey upon it ; for when the fifliermen caft their lines beyond, they never catch any but thofe voracious fifti *. * Confult vol. ill. of the Br. Zoology for an account of the filh on this coaft : alfo the Tour in Scotland, 1769. To Mr. Travis, Surgeon in Scarborough, I am indebted for the moft curious articles. Between ,i h ENGLAND. Between Fhmhrmgh head and Scar/mngh projeftj Fil>y Brig, a led« of rocks running far into the fea, the caufe of frequent fhipwrecks. Siar- ha-cugb caftle. feated on a vaft rock projefting into the water, fucceeds. The fpnng-tides, at the time of the equinoKs, rife here twenty-four feet, but at other times onl; twenty : the neap-tides from twelve to fixteen Then Wtiiiy, noted for its neighboring allum-works, and moie for its fine harbour, the only one on the whole coaft : the admittance into which is a narrow channel between two high hills : it expands largely within, and is kept clean by the river EJk. From hence to the mouth of the T«,. the boundary between this county and that of Durhcm, is a high and rude coaft indented with many bays, and varied with little filhing viUaaes built ftrangely among the cliff,, filling every projefting ledge, in the fie manner with thofeofthe peafants in the pifturefque and rocky parts of „,l'r ^7' '^l ?[""■■" "■"" "'■ *" 8r«t county, opens wiA a wide mou h and mudded bottom into the fea. This was the Dunu,n Eftuarium L T'n T T " " ''"''■ '""*"" '■'"• ""««"" '"" the country. Almoft all the northern rivers defcend with a rapid courfe, from their mount^ious rife and fupply, and aflord but a ihort navigation. From hence the lead of the mineral parts of Durham, and the corn of its more level parts are imported. In the mud of this elhiary, mo.^ particularly. abounds the My„„, Glminoja of Linn^us, the Hag of the neighboring ' filhermen; a worn,, which enters the mouths of the filh taken on hooks that remain a tide under water, and devours the whole, leaving only the ftm and bones. This alfo U the worm which converts waterlnto a fort From 5«/.„ Sv^ok, in the bilhoprick ^i Durham, to Hartlefool is a fries of fand-banks, and the Ihore a long-continued fandyfhallow. F Im he Nefi Po,n, of Har.l^^a to BlaMalk is a rocky lime'ilone c"aft "T f«que„. intervals of fand-bank, and a ftony beach , but &i.„ .TlZt 11 r" T^'^^i *^' "° ^^"^ ™"'" '-'•> - -en ftand off he ftor^ without the moft imminent danger : in particular, the coafts aboul B.»/^™ «., are bold, excavated, and form'ed into grotefque fi^"! for XVII FuBY Brio. The s. Durham. i- 1: xviir ENGLAND. NotTHVMIBIl- LAND. ■ \ m Farn Islei. for fevcral miles, and the coafts rough with a broken and heavy fca, by reafon of the hidden rockt; and fpits of fands which run out far from land. From Seham to Sunderland are fand-hills and fhallow fandy beaches. From fVeremouth to near Cleadon, low rocks of lime-ftone form the coaft, here and there interfered with fand-hills and ftony beaches. From thence to the mouth of the Tyne, and even to Dunftanbrough in Northumberland, the fhore is fandy, and the land in a few places rocky ; but from thence to Bamboroughy the coafts are high and rocky, in many places run far into the fea, and at low tides (hew their heads above water. Bamborougb caftle ftands on the luft of the range of rocky cliffs. This fortrefs was founded by the Saxon monarch Ida. After various fortunes, it has proved in its difmantled ftate of more ufe to mankind than "when it boafted fome potent lord and fierce warders. A charitable prelate of the fee of Durham purchafed the eftate, and left it for the ufe of the dif- treffed feamen who might fuffer fhipwreck on this dangerous coaft, and to unconfined charitable purpofes, at the difcretion of certain truftees. The poor are, in the deareft feafons, fupplied with corn at a cheap rate ; the wrecked, found fenfelefs and benumbed with cold, are taken inftantly into thefe hofpitable walls, and reftored to life by the afliftance of food, medicine, and warm beds ; and if the Ihip is capable of relief, that alfo is faved, by means of machines always ready for the purpofe ♦. The Farn ijlandsy or rather rocks, form a group at no great diftance from fliore ; the neareft a mile and fixty-eight chains ; the fartheft about feven. Thefe probably, at fome remote period, have been convulfed from the land, but now divided from it by a furious tide, rulhing through a channel from five to twelve fathoms in depth. The original fea, to the eaft of the Staples, the remoteft rocks, fuddenly deepens to forty or fifty f. St. Cuthbert firft made thefe rocks of note : he occafionally made the largeft of them the feat of his devotion and feclufion from the world j expelling, fays fuperftition, the malignant fpirits, the pre-occupants. • Tcur in Scotland, 1769 ; and fuller in Mr. Hutchinfon'i Northumberland, W. 176. f Adair. Hammond. Thompjim, Some SCOTLAND. XIX cliffs. This 3US fortunes, 1 than "when e prelate of e of the dif- is coad, and :ain truftees. cheap rate ; ^en inftantly ice of food, *, that alfo is reat diftance irtheft about ivulfed from g through a fea, to the *ty or fifty f. y made the the world ; s-occupants. ', ii. 176. Some Some remains of a chapel arc ftill 10 be fcen on it. For ages pafl, the fole tenants are a few cows, wafted over from the main land in the little cobles, or boats of the country, and the Eider Ducks, ftill diftinguifhed here by the name of the Saint. Numberlefs fea-fowls, and of great va- riety of kinds, poflefs the remoter rocks, on which they find a more fecurc retreat than on the low-cliffcd (hores. To moft of the marine feathered tribe the whole coaft from Flamborough head to that of St, Ebb's is inhofpitable They feek the loftieft promontories. Where you hear of the haunts of the Razor-bills and Guillemots, Corvorants and Shags, you may be well afTured, thit the cliffs foar to a diftinguifhed height. Where thofe are wanting, they retire to fea-girt rocks, as fpots the left accefllbie to mankind. The five fpecies of Auks and Guillemots appear in fpring, and vanifh in autumn : the other birds prefei-ve their native haunts, or ipread along the neighboring (hores. From Bamborough to the mouth of the tweed is a fandy fhore, narrow- ing as It approaches our fifter kingdom. Lindesfarn, or the Holy IJland, with Its ruined cathedral and caftle, lie remote from coaft, acceffible at every recefs of tide, and poffibly divided from Northumberland by the power of the waves in diftant ages. The tides do not fwell over this traft in the ufual manner of apparent flowing and gradual approach ; but ooze gently out of every part of the fand, which at firft appears a quagoy ex- tent, then to the terror of the traveller, furrounds him with a fining plain of fmooth unruffled water, reflefting the varied landfcapes of the adjoining fhores *. . ^ The rw, the antient Almnm, a narrow geograpKcal boundary be- tween us and our fdlow-fubjea, the Scottip nation, next fucceeds. After aftortcommuanceof lowland, ft. £^^V W. a lofty promontory, pro- and all the b,rds of the Bafi, excepting the Garnet) and it, lower part i ho lowed ,„to moft auguft caverns. This, with F^fenefs, about thirty m.le3 d,ftant, form, the entrance into that magnificent' eftua^y the firth If F..„..K„... Scotland. St. Ebb's Head. Mr, Hufchifi/on, ii. 151. D 2 Forth, XX ( f il ■ h \ i ■ Coal, ITS tXTfNT. SCOTLAND. Fortby which extends inland fixty miles ; and, with the canal from Canon to the firth of Clyde, intirely infulates the antient Caledonia. The ifle of May appears near the northern fide of the entrance ; the vaft towering rock, the Ba/s, lies near the fouthern. This lofty ifland is the fummtr refort of birds innumerable, which, after difcharging the firll duty of na- ture, feek, with their young, other Ihores or other climates. This is one of the few fpots in the northern hemifphere on which the Gannets neftle. Their fize, their fnowy plumage, their eafy flight, and their precipitate plunge after their prey, difl:inguilh them at once from all the refl: of the feathered tenants of the ifle, the Corvorants and Auks, the flights of whom are rapid, and the Gulls, which move with fluggifh wing. Near the Ba/s the entrance narrows, then opens, and bending inwards, forms on each fide a noble bay. The Firfb contracts to a very narrow ftreight at ^eensferry ; then winds beautifully, till it terminates beyond Alloa, in the river to which it owes its name. The coafts are low, in part rocky, in part a pleafant beach ; but every where of matchlcfs beauty and population. Edinburgh, the capital, rifes with true grandeur near the fhore, with its port, the great emporium, Leith, beneath, where the fpring- tides fometimes rife fifteen and fixteen ittx., and to feventeen or eighteen when the water is forced up the firth by a violent wind from the north- eafl:. Almoft every league of this great eftuary is terminated v,ith towns or villages, the eflfeds of trade and induftry. The elegant defcription of the coaft of Fife, left us by Johnjion*, is far from being exaggerated i and may, with equal juftice, be applied to each fhore. FiFESHiRE, bounded by the firths of Forth and 1'ay, projefts far into the fea ; a country flourifliing by its induftry, and happy in numbers of ports, natural, artificial, or improved. Coal and lime, the native pro- ductions of the county, are exported in vaft quantities. Excepting the unimportant colliery in Sutherland, thofe at Largo Wood, midway be- tween the bay and St, Andrews, are the laft on this fide of North Britain. The coafts in general of this vaft province are rocky and precipitous ; but • See Tour in Scotland, 1772. part ii. p. 212. far ?^- ' SCOTLAND. XXI far from being lofty. The bays, particularly the beautiful one of Largo, are finely bounded by gravelly or fandy fhores j and the land, in moft parts, rifes high to the middle of the county. Towards the northern end, the river Edirty and its little bay, by fimilarity of found point out the Tinna of the old geographer. The eftuary of the Tay linnits the north o{ Fifejhire. Before the mouth Firth of Tay. extends thefand retaining the Britijh name oi Aber-tay, or the place where the ray difcharges itfelf into the fea. The Romans preferved the antient name, and Latinized it into "Tava. The entrance, at Brough-tay caftle, is about three quarters of a mile wide ; after which it expands, and goes about fourteen miles up the country before it affumes the form of a river. At the recefs of the tides there appears a vaft extent of fands, and a very fhallow channel j but the high tides waft, even as high as Perth, veflels of • a hundred and twenty tons. The Ihores are low, and the ground rifes gently inland on the fouthern fide : on the north it continues low, till it ar- rives at the foot of the Grampian hills, many miles diftant. In fome re- mote age the fea extended on the north fide far beyond its prefent bounds. At a conliderable diftance above the flourifhing port of Dundee, and re- mote inland, anchors have been found deep in the foil ♦. When thefe parts were deferted by the fea, it is probable that fome oppofite country was devoured by an inundation, which occafioned this partial defertion. From thence to Aberbrothic, in the fhire oi Angus, noted for the vene- rable remains of its abbey, is a low and fandy Ihore. From Aberbrothic almoft to Montroje, arifes a bold rocky coaft, lofty and precipitous, ex- cept where interrupted by the beautiful femicircular bay of Lunan. Se- veral of the clifl^s are penetrated by mofl: amazing caverns -, fome open into the fea with a narrow entrance, and internally inftantly rife into high and fpacious vaults, and fo extenfively meandring, that no one as yet has had the courage to explore the end. The entrance of others Ihame the work of art in the nobleft of the Gothic cathedrals. A magnificent portal ap- pears divided in the middle by a great column, the bafis of which finks • Douglas's Eaft Coaft of Scotland, 14. deep XMI SCOTLAND. Nl III : Montrose. ill 1 = i i'. i\ - < 1; 1 li 1 1 1! 1 11, 5; * ii deep in the water. Thus the voyager may pafs on one fide in his boat, furvey the wonders within, and return by the oppofite fide. . The cavern called the Geylit-pot, almoft realifes in form a fable in the Per/tan Tales. The hardy adventurer may make a long fubterraneous voyage, with a pifturefque fceneiy of rock above and on every fide. He may be rowed in this folemn fcene till he finds himfelf fuddenly reftored to the fight of the heavens : he finds himfelf in a circular chafm, open to the day, with a narrow bottom and extenfive top, widening at the margin to the diameter of two hundred feet. On attaining the fummit, he finds himfelf at a difliance from the fea, amidft corn-fields or verdant paftures, with a fine view of the country, and a gentleman's feat near to the place from which he had emerged. Such may be the amufement of the curious in fummer calms ! but when the ftorms are direfted from the eaft, the view from the edge of this hollow is tremendous j for, from the height of above three hundred feet, they may look down on the furious waves, whitened with foam, and fwelling from their confined pafl:age. Peninfulated rocks often jut from the face of the ciifl^s, precipitous on their fides, and walhed by a great depth of water. The ifthmus which joins them to the land, is often fo extremely narrow as to render it im- paffable for more than two or three perfons a-breaft j but the tops fpread into verdant areas, containing veftiges of rude fortifications, in antient and barbarous times the retreat of the neighboring inhabitants from die rage of a potent invader *. Montrofey peninfulated by the fea, and the bafon its beautiful harbour, ftands on a bed of fand and gravel. The tide rulhing furioufiy through a narrow entrance twice in twenty-four hours, fills the port with a depth of water fufficient to bring in veflels of large burden. Unfortunately, at the ebb they mull lie dry ; for none exceeding fixty tons can at that period float, and thofe only in the channel of the South ^^, which, near Montrofe^ difcharges itfelf into the fea. A fandy coaft is continued for a fmall diftance from Montrofe. Rude • Thefe defcriptions borrowed from my own Tours, rocky SCOTLAND. xxin BULLERS OK BUCHAN. rocky chfFs re-commence in the county of Merns, and front the ocean Among t?= higheft is Fowls-heugh, noted for the refort of multitudes of fea-birds. Bervie and Stonehive are two fmall ports overhung with rocks • and on the fummit of a moft exalted one, are the vaft ruins of Bunnoter once the property of the warlike family of the Keiths. The rocks adja' cent to It, like the preceding, aflume various and grotefque forms A little farther the antient Deva, or Dee, opens into the fea, after form ing a harbour to the fine and flourifhing town of Aberdeen. A fandy coaft continues for numbers of miles, part of which is fo moveable as almoft to- tally to have overwhelmed the parilh ofFurvie: t^o farms only exift, out of an eftate, in 1600, valued at five hundred pounds a year. A majeftic rocky coaft appears again. The Bul/ers of Buchan, and the noble arched rock, fo finely reprefented by the pencil of the Reverend Mr. Cord^^er *, are juftly efteemed the wonders of this country. The former IS an amazing harbour, with an entrance through a moft auguft arch of great height and length. The infide is a fecure bafon, environed on every fide by mural rocks : the whole projefts far from the main land, and IS bounded on each fide by deep creeks; fo that the traveller who chufes to walk round the narrow battlements, ought firft to be well aflured of the ftrength of his head. A little farther is Peterhead, the moft eaftern port of Scotland, the common retreat of wind-bound fhips; and a port which fully merits the attention of government, to render it more fecure. Kinnaird-heod, the ratzalum promontorium, lies a little farther north, and, with the north eaftern extremity of Cathne/s, formes the firth of Murray, the Tua Mfiua rtum a bay of vaft extent. Troup-head is another vaft cape, to the weft of the former. The caverns and rocks of that promontory yield to none . in magnificence and fingularity of fi.ape : of the latter, fome emulate the ^^IIICI. form of lofty towers, others of inclining pyramids with central arches pervious to boats. The figures of thcfe are the efl^ed of chance and owing to the collifion of the waves, which wearing away the earth and Peterhead. HOW FORMED, Attt iquities and Sanery of Scotland, letter vi. plates ii. iii. cnimbl^ XXIV SCOTLAND. crumbly parts, leave them the juft fubjeds of our admiration. Sea-plants, ftiells, and various forts of marine exfanguious animals, cloath their bafes, wafhed by a deep and clear fea j and their fummits refound with the va- rious clang of the feathered tribe. From hence the bay is bounded on the fouth by the extenfive and rich plains of Murray, The fliore wants not its wild beauties. The view of the noble cavern, called the rocks of Cauffie, on the Ihore between Burgh- head and Z.^^ mouth, drawn by Mr. Cordinery fully evinces the aflertion. The bottom of the bay clofes with the firth of Invertiefsy from whence to the Atlantic ocean is a chain of rivers, lakes, and bays, with the interrup- tion only of two miles of land between Loch-oieh and Loch-lochy. Unite thofc two lakes by a canal, and the reft of North Britain would be com- pletely infnlated. To the north the firth of Cromartiey and the firth of 1'ayney the Fara ^Mfiuariumt penetrate deep into the land/ From Dornoch y the coaft of Sutherland is low and fandy, except in a few places : one, at the water of Broray is diftinguilhed by the beauty of the rocky fccnery -, in the midft of which the river precipitates itldf into the fea, down a lofty precipice. The Scottijh Alpsy which Jieretofore kept remote from the Ihorc, now ap- proach very near j and at the great promontory, the Ripa Alta of Ptolemy y the Ordy i. e. Aird of Cathnejsy or the Height of Cathnrfsy terminate in a moft fublime and abrupt manner in the fea. The upper part is covered with gloomy heath j the lower is a ftupendous precipice, excavated into vaft caverns, the haunt of Seals and different fea-fowl. On the eaftern fide of the kingdom, this is the ftriking termination of the vaft mountains Highland Alps, of Scotlandy which form its Highlands, the habitation of the original inha- bitants, driven fi-om their antient feats by the anceftors of Lowland Scots,, defcendants of Saxons, Frenchy and Normansy congenerous with the Eng~ lijhy yet abfurdly and invidioufly diftinguilhed from them. Language, as well as ftriking natural boundaries, mark their place. Their mountains face on the weft the Atlantic ocean j wind along the weft of Cathne/s -, among which Morvern and Scarabeny Ben-Hop and Ben-Lugaly arife pre- leminent. Sutherland is entirely Alpincy as are Rojs-Jhire and Invernefs- v^;. Jhire. Ord of Cath NESS. Sea*plancs, I their bafes, vith the va- lve and rich The view of veen Burgh- he aflertion. n whence to he interriip- chy. Unite jld be conn- te, the Fara the coaft of the water of n the midft y precipice, re, now ap- : of Ptolemy, rminate in a t is covered :avated into the eaftern I mountains •iginal inha- wland Scots^ th the Eng~ Language, r mountains )f Cathne/s ; ly arife pre- d Invernefs- Jhire. SCOTLAND. M'. Their Summ^ Mt» are. M.alF«mmnuh, the Cm«rHh. Befimilh and f -/ near F^, mUlan, : the laft of which U „pLed oZTur'. teen hund«d and fifty yard, in height. Great par, oM^JreZ .nth,s„^ It boafts of another ^.^^,, ibaring far beyond .TvH„ th,s ,s .n the centre of the Grampian UU,. and pe°hap, L hilft ft^ the fea of any .„ Grea, BriM„. They again co^p Jend the S ™ pa^ lows. From hence the reft of North Hrif.i« r . .^ hills : but in a„../.„,* ifr/^llw VIm'" t •"""«'" po«er.on':rLe«;5«"™ r ^e^thf '• '^^ ""'"' recede inland, and leave a vaft fl« K„ u I ' ' ^"" mountains Ing the wave's with aXi ^of ^ Xp«^« ' '"'^*' '"^ '"'"" creek of Sumo ■ the «,l,„i. Z ^J P'«"P'««. « far as the little whSot„^"i:^^° ""T '"''^"^ *"' ^'-^l". or mher chafm,, in an eXrn ^I ^ ' "' """ """'="""'' ?">- » >«««. -'^' of ftones, as reg2 f a I^n 1 t rh^-^r'^ ''^'"■"''•.«"" fulated ftacks or colun,ns of fimirl'rl™ 2^ . "" "" '"" others, pillar-lite, afpi. i„ heights e'lTfott^nd" Th'T "'''"' j^:ts-^i^'--i-^^r^ /«»> the i»«//,. of Buaan. the perf^t^^^X Jji: ^r*^"" rated pyramid near B.»^ and the inflated coul:Tfftl,,t fnt" Letters on the Scenery and Antiquities of the North of .::tf' " • S.eMr.CW,W..b«,„iftiviewof,ftackofdmldn..,- .»f A^*r kept on board a fmaU veflel (conftrufled for that pirpofe) aiwl anchored at the i™,er edge of a fand called Do^S ^L.'^bout eTJt From thence they make for Cnmr in Ncr/M> and f,»m that point tiU they arnve at the N«-e. their track is all the way thmugh a S ; rf zrhir dT'^r *' "Oft '^»8««'«» <■»"<)■•: .0 whichjf we add &;; weather dark mghts, ftom«. contrary winds, and vety near adjacent ke- ftores, ..may be very fairly reckoned the moft dangTrous of he much, frequented navigations in the world. l.>d the .U fortune to efcape ftipwreck, to have clofed a life of glo/Ild to have prevented the calamities which befel himfelf, his pofterirv' Ta kmgdoms. which a conduft of which he had begun to giriTmpto" brought upon them. In the fort of exile he was obliged to taliTto W, on my 5.h, ,68a, his frigat. ftruck on the L„ and o" to dreadful fands off Wim.rm.n,fi. His Highnefi, with fome few, wt^e preferved^feveralpeopleof quality perilhed. Malevolence fay,, that^e duke caUed out to fave his dogs, his priefts, and hi, favorite, thlW rf terwards duke of MM^ouib. His Highnefs certainly had riot Ae gt of prefoence, or he would not have claflM in hi, faving orders hU l!ce wuh the moft fajAfu. of animals. Hi, Highnef, ftewj on thl o cX h,s ufual .ntrep,d,ty. A medal was ftruck of a finking Ihip, witllhe E 2 XXVIf Navioation. 3KVIII SCOTLAND. h P . 1 1 li ,:ii> motto Imfavidum feriunt. The hcroifm and loyalty of the common men who were left behind, had the fuUcft clame to every honor. On feeing their popular and beloved commander out of danger, they gave three loud cheers, and on the third funk exulting to the bottom. 8ano-Bakk8. But fortunately, to the north of thefe, this fea is much more remark- able for fand-banks of utility than of danger, and would never have been obferved but for the multitudes of fifhes which, at different feafons, ac- cording to their fpecies, refort to their fides, from the great northern deeps, cither for the fake of variety of food which they yield, or to dcpofe their fpawn in fecurity. The firft to be taken notice of does not come within the defcription, yet Ihould not be pafled over in filence, as it comes within the natural hiftory of the North fea. An anonymous fand runs acrofs the channel between Bucban-tiejs and the north end of Juts-riff: the left depth of water over it is forty fathoms j fo that it would fcarcely be thought of, did not the water fuddenly deepen again, and form that place which is ftyled the Buchan-deeps. Long Fort Yi. The Long Bank, or the Long Forty s, bears E.S.E. Utom Buchan-nefs, about forty-five miles diftant, and extends fouthward as far as oppofite to NewcaJiU j is about fifty leagues in length, and feven in breadth ; and has on it from thirty-two to forty- five fathoms of water. The ground is a coarfe gravel, mixed with marine plants, and is efteemed a good fidiing bank. ' The Mar Bank lies between the former and the fhore oppofite to Ber- tvick ; is oval, about fifteen miles long, and has about twenty-fix fathom of water, and round it about forty. MoNTRoiE PiTj. The bank called Montroje Pits lies a little to the eaft of the middle of the Long Fortys. It is about fifty miles long, and moft remarkable for five great pits or hollows, from three to four miles in diameter : on their edges is only forty fathom water; yet they fuddenly deepen to feventy, and even a hundred fathom, on a foft muddy bottom : the margins on the contrary are gravelly. I enquired whether the furface of this wonderful bank appeared in any way agitated, as I had fufpicion that the pits might have been produdive of whirlpools j but was informed, that the fea there exhibited no uncommon appearance. The Will Bank. SCOTLAND. jmnr The notrd Doggers Bank next fucceeds. It commences at the dillance Dooobrs Ban*. of twelve leagues from Flamborough-head, itnd extei ds acrofs the fea, nearly eaft, above feventy-two leagues, joining Hom-riffy a very narrow ftrip of fand which ends on the coaft of Jutland. The greateft breadth is twenty leagues j and in parts it has only on it ten or eleven fathoms of water, in others twenty-four or five. To the fouth of the Bogger is a vaft extent of fand-bank, named, in different parts, the fVell Bank, the Swart Bank, and the Brown Bank, all covered with fufficient depth of water j but between them and the Britijh coafts arc the Ore and the Lemon, dreaded by mariners, and numbers of others infamous for fhipwreck.*. The channel between the Dogger Bank and the fVell Bank deepens even to forty fathoms. This hollow is called the Silver Pits, and is noted for the cod-filhery which fupplies the London markets. The cod-filh love the deeps : the flat-fifh the Ihallows. I will not repeat what I have, in an- other place, fo amply treated of*. I muft only lament, that the fiiheries of this bank are only fubfervient to the purpofes of luxury. Was (according to the plan of my humane friend, Mr. Gravis of Scarborough) a canal formed from any part of the neighboring coaft to that at Leeds, thoufands of manufadurers would receive a cheap and wholefome food j infurreaions in times of fcarcity of gra: be prevented ; our manufac- tures worked at an eafy rate -, and our rivals in trade thereby underfold. In the late fatal war, \ hen Britain had all Europe to contend with, as fecret or open enemies, aiding the defeftion of its own long-foftered chil- dren, the Dutch drew on themfelves an indignation which perhaps it mi^ht have been prudent to fupprefs. The ftates exerted their reliques of naval life; which emitted its laft fparks on Auguft 5th, 178 1, off the Dogger Bank. Our gallant veteran, vice-admiral Hyde Parker, commanded our little fleet of fix Ihips of the line, oppofed to eight two-deckers command- ed by admiral Zoutman. The Dutch, difufed to arms for a long feries of years, collefted their antient valour : neither the Britijh nor Belgic lion oEA Fight off theDooger Bank in 1781, • See Br. Ztol. iii. Articles Haddock, Ling, and Turbot. feemed II ) '• : ■ iij ^i n ' 1 1! I XXX Caledonian Ocean. Orkney Islands. Stroma. O R K N I E S. feemed to have degenerated : the Dutch loft one fliip of the line, fent to the bottom. The reft fought the fafety of the Texel, and never more vin- dicated the dominion of the fea. I have, to the beft of my abilities, enumerated the Britijh filh, in the third volume of the Britijh Zoology. The Faunula which I have prefixed to Mr. Lightfeot's Flora Scotica, contains thofe which frequent the north- ern coafts of Great Britain-, in which will be found wanting many of thofe of South Britain. The Reverend Mr. Lightfoot, in that work, hath given a moft elaborate account of the fubmarine plants of our northern fea. I will now purfue my voyage from the extreme fhores of North Britain through a new ocean. Here commences the Oceanus Caledoniust or Deu- caledonius, of Ptolemy j a vaft expanfe, extending to the weft as far as Greenlandy and to the extreme north. This I Ihould call the North- ern Ocean, diftinguilhing its parts by other names fuitable to the coafts. From Dungjby-head the Orkney iflands ' appear fpreading along * the horizon, and yield a moft charming prolpeft. Some of them are fo * near as diftindly to exhibit the rocky fronts of thofe bold promontories * which fuftain the weight of the vaft currents from the Atlantic. Others * fliew more faint : their diftances finely expreffed as they retire from the * eye, until the mountains of the more remote have fcarcely a deeper * azure than the Iky, and are hardly difcernible rifing over the furface of * the ocean *.* Between thefe and the main land, about two miles from the Cathnejs fhore, lies Stroma^ the Ocetis of Ptolemy, a little ifland, an appertenance to that country, fertile by the manual labor of about thirty families j plea- fant, and lofty enough for the refort of the Auk tribe. The noted mum- mies are now loft, occafioned by the doors of the caverns in which they were depofited being broken down, and admiflion given to cattle, which have trampled them to pieces. This catacomb ftands on a neck of land * Mr. CorMncr^i elegant d«fcription, p. 85. bounded O K K N I E S. bounded by the fea on three fides. The fait air and fpray expels all in- fe(5ls, and is the only prefervation the bodies have j fome of which had been lodged here a great number of years. In many of the iQes, the in- habitants ufe no other method for preferring their meat from putrefaftion than hanging it in caves of the fea, and ihe method is vindicated by the fuccefs. This idand lies in the Pentland Firth, noted for the violence of the tides ; tremendous to the fight, but dangerous only when paffed at im- proper times. They fet in from the north-weft : the flood, on the con- trary, on the coafts of Lewis, pours in from the fouth *. The tide of flood upon Stroma (and other iflands flmilarly fituated in mid-ftream) divides or fplits before it reaches it. A current runs with great violence on both fides, then unites, at fome diftance from the oppofite end, and forms a Angle current, running at fpring-tides at the rate of nine knots an hour J at neap, at that of three only. The fpace between the dividing tides, at diflrrent ends of an ifland, is quite ftagnant, and is called the eddy. Some of them are a mile or two long, and give room for a (hip to tack to and fro, till the tides are fo far fpent as to permit it to purfue its voyage* The moftboifterous parts «f the ftreams are at the extremities of the ifland, and a little beyond the top of the eddy, where they unite. The collifion of thefe oppofite ftreams excite a circular motion, and, when the tide is very ftrong, occafion whirlpools in form of an inverted bell, the largeft diameter of which may be about three feet. In fpring-tides'they have force enough to turn a veflel round, but not to do any damage : but there have been inftances of fmall boats being fwallowed up. Thefe whirlpools are largeft when firft formed ; are carried away with the ftream, and difappear, but are quickly followed by others. The fpiral motion or fusion does not extend far beyond the cavity: a boat may pafs within twenty yards of thefe whirlpools with fafety. Fiftiermen who happen to iind themfelves within a dangerous diftance, fling in an oar, or any bulk/ XXXI TiDIK The SwEtcHiE OF Stroma. I • Mackenfte'j Charts c/ th* Orkniet, p. 4.£- body. -xxxn Rousts. SWONA. 1 1 a I* .i 1 ft Depth of Water. O R K N I E S. body, which breaks the continuity of the furface, and interrupts the verti- ginous motion, and forces the water to rufh fuddenly in on all fides and fill up the cavity. In ftormy weather, the waves themfelves deftroy this phaenomenon. A funk rock near the concourfe of thefe rapid tides occa- fions a moft dreadful appearance. The ftream meeting with an interrup- tion, falls over with great violence, reaches the bottom, and brings up with it fand, fhells, fifties, or whatfoever elfe it meets with j which, with boats, or whatfoever it happens to meet, is whirled from the centre of the eruption towards the circumference with amazing velocity, and tlie troubled furface boils and bubbles like a great cauldron, then darts off with a fuc- ceflion of whirlpools from fucceflive ebullitions. Thefe are called Roujis^ and are attended with the utnioft danger to fmall boats, which are agi- tated to fuch a degree, that (even fhould they not be overfet) the men arc flung out of them, to perifh without any chance of redemption. It is during the ebb that they are tremendous, and moft fo in that of a fpring- tide with a weft wind, and that in the calmeft weather j for during flood they are pafled with the gt;cateft fafety. Veflels in a calm are never in danger of touching on an ifland or vifible rock, when they get into a cur- rent, but are always carried fafe from all danger,, Swrnat a little ifland, the moft fouthern of the Orknies, is about four miles beyond Stroma, and is noted for its tremendous ftreams, and in par- ticular the whirlpools called the IFells of Swona, which in a higher de- gree exhibit all the appearances of the former. What contributes to en- creafe the rage of the tides, befides their confinement between fo many iflands, is the irregular pofition of the founds, and their little depth of water. The fame fliallownefs extends to every fide of the Orknies j an evidence that they had once been part of the mother ifle, rent from it by fome mighty convulfion. The middle of the channel, between Stroma and the main land, has only ten fathom water : the greateft depth around that ifland is only eighteen. The founds are from three to forty-fix fa- thom deep : the greater depths are between South RonaldJJja and South JfFales i for in general the other founds are only from three to thirteen ; and O R K N I E S. Zii^^r'"''"''''''' ''^^' °' '^^ "'^^^^ ^-"P -^ -ely exceeds About thefe iaands commences a decreafe of the tides. They lie in a great ocean in which the waters have room to expand, therefore never experience that height of flood which is conftant in the contraded feas Here ordinary fpring-tides do not exceed eight feet, and very extraordi- nary fpnng-tides fourteen, even when afted on by the violence of the winds , P.T.^L*'""" °^ '^^ ^'^''''''"^ ""'^ population of the Orknhs is unknown. thtcnlh '''' ^''^ '''^^'' ^°' """ "■' '""^^ '^^' "^"^ °^' '^''' "^'"^ '^ Orcades has memorant didlas a nomine Gr^eof Mela and P% take notice of them ; and the laft defcribes their number and cluftered form with much accuracy ^ The fleet of ^griccla failed round them and made a conqueft of them, but the Romans probably never retained any part of Caledonia. I found no marks of them beyond Orrea or MM ^, excepting at F.r/.«^./ „ i„ Breadali,i„e, where N^ >U f T^' r^'^^^ "° '^''' '^'^ ' ''^P°'^^ advanced poft. Notwithftanding this, they muft have had, by means of dipping, a com- municated knowlege of the coafts of Nor^, Britain even to the Or..^... Folemy hath, from information collefted by thofe means, given the names of every nation, confiderable river, and head-land, on the eaftern, northern, and weftern coaft But the Romans had forgotten the navigation of thefe feas, otherwife the poet would never have celebrated the coui^ge of his countrymen, in failing in puriuit of the plundering Saxons through ««- kmzvnj^reights, ^nd a naval vidbory obtained ofl^ thefe iflands by the forces fent to the relief of the diftrefled Briicns by Honorius, Quid Sidera profunt? Ignotumque fretum ? Maduerunt Saxene fufo ' Orcadet ^. -MurM Mackenfie. + Qlaudian, j M.la, lib. iii. c. 6. Plin. lib. iv. c. ,6. S Tour ScotK 1772. p. 70. II Same, p. 25. ^ QlauJian, dc iv. Coui. HonoriL F The XXXIII TiDBS, DB- CRBASB OF. XXXIV O R K N I E S. \'i h' ?i I' Language. Rocks of the Orknies. Birds. The Orkney ifles in after times became poffefled by the Piffs j and again by the Scots. The latter gave way to the Norwegian pirates, who were fubdued by Harold Harfargre about the year 875 *, and the iflands united to the crown of Norway. They remained under the Norwegians till the year 1263, accepted their laws, and ufed their language. The Norfey or Norwegian language was generally ufed in the Orkney and Schetland iflands even to the laft century : but, except in Fouhy where a few words are ftill known by the aged people, it is quite loft. The Englijh tongue, with a Norwegian actent, is that of the iflands j but the appearance of the peo- ple, their manners and genius, evidently Ihew their northern origin. The iflands vary in their form and height. Great part of Hoy is mountanous and lofty. The noted land-mark, the hill of Hoy, is faid to be five hun- dred and forty yards high. The fides of all thefe hills are covered with long heath, in which breed multitudes of Curlews, Green Plovers, Redshanks, and other Waders. The Short-eared Owl is alfo very frequent here, and neftles in the ground. It is probable that it is from hence, as well as from Norway, that it migrates, in the beginning of winter, to the more fouthern parts of Britain. Moft of the Waders mi- grate J but they muft receive confiderable reinforcements from the moft diftant parts of the north, to fill the numbers which cover our fliores. The cliffs are of a moft ftupendous height, and quite mural to the very fea. The Berry Head is an exalted precipice, with an auguft cave at the bottoi 1, opening into the fea. The Ern Eagles poffefs, by diftant pairs, the upper part of the rocks : neither thefe nor any other Falcons will bear fociety ; but, as Pliny elegantly exprefles it, Jdultos perjequitur parens et longe fugat, amnios Jcilicet rapina. Et alio quin mum par aqui- larum magna ad populandum traSlu, utjatietur, indigetf. Auks, Corvo- rants, and all the tribes which love exalted fituations, breed by thou- fands in the other parts. The Tvste, or Black Guillemot, fecures itfelf in a crack in the rock, or by fcraping a burrow in the little earth it may find -, there it lays a fingle egg, of a dirty olive blotched with a ! •iMJII • Torfaus Rer. OrcaJ. lib. i. c. 3. p. 10. f flj/?. Nat^ lib. X, c. 5^. darker. SCHETLAND. darker. This fpecies never migrates from the Orknies. The FooLrsa Guillemot continues till November. The Little Auk, a rare bird in other parts of Britain, breeds in the holes of the lofty precipices And the LvRE, or the Sheerwatbr, burrows in the earth among the rocks of Hoyzn^Eda, and forms an article of commerce with its feathers, and of food with Its flefh, which is falted and kept for the proviHon of the winter In that feafon they are feen fkimming the ocean at moft furpri- zmg diftances from land. The Stormv Petrel breeds frequently among the loofe ftones, then takes to fea and affrights the fuperftitious failor with Its appearance. Woodcocks fcarcely ev^er appear here Fieldfares make this a fhort baiting-place: and the Sr^ow Bunting often alights and covers whole trails of country, driven by the froft from the farthelr north. ^ ^T^c'^^u- ^7''''' ^'"'"^ '" ^°"*'^ ^'''^' '" Mainland-, but the greateft part of theffe birds, all the Bernacles, Brent Geese, and feveral other palniated birds, retire in the fpring to more northern latitudes. But to the SwALLow.TAiLED DucK, the PiNTAiL, and a rew others, this is a warm climate, for they retire here to pafs their winters in the fheltered bays Any other remarks may be intermixed with thofe on Schetland- for there is great fimilarity of fubjefts in both the groups o V'^ ^'L^i' '^°"' ^'""'^ """"' '^ '^^ r^OTth.^^^ of the moft northern Orkney Midway is Fair IJland, a fpot about three miles long, with hieh and rocky fliores, inhabited by about a hundred and feventy people • an mduftrious race; the men filhers, the women knitters anS fpinners. The depth of water round varies to twenty-fix fathoms. The tide divides at the north end, runs with great v Jocity, and forms on the caft fide a confiderable eddy. Schetland confifts of feveral iflands. Mainland, the principal, extends from fouth to north twenty-eight leagues, and is moft Angularly formed- confifting of an infinite number oi feninJuU conneded by very narrow ifthmufec. That called Mavijgrind, which unites the parifh of North Maven, is only eighty yards broad. But the irregular fliape of this ifland occafions it to abound with the fineft and moft fecure ports, called here XXXV Fair Islb. Schetland. F 2 voei i XXXVI i::h Length ov Days. Aurora Borb< ALIB. i S1 III ! i! i i S C H E T L A N D. voes J a moft providential difpenfation in a fea which fwarms with fUhea of the moflr general ufe, otherwife there would be no retreat for the ve^ls employed in a Gommerce of fuch benefit to mankind. The adja- cent iflands are in general fo near to the mother ifland, and their head- lands point fo exa£bly to its correfponding capes, that it is highly pro- bable that thev once made a part of the Mainland. The rocks and ftacks affume great variety, of forms, fiich as fteeples and Gothic cathe- drals rifing out of the water, fleets of Ihips, and other fancied fhapes. The Derebohn, in the pariOi i i tMT A»n«jjiiiT»»». Svrit«M» Attn DVM«. S C n F. T L A N D AND T flmll, In ftnothrr |ilrtrc, confldcr thr ilrrrf afo of vrgrfation in this north- The f);irrtt qurtntity of t\irf which Pmviilrnre hath hcftowecl on all thcfe inrti\vi!», rxcrptinp; iV^fWr/^, is another proof of the al^undancf of trcrs and other vcfyftablcs, h^ng fuur h)ft from the furfacc. The application of this hnmNs 1VJJr^»/'//^^ for \\\c ptirpofe of fvicl, is faid to have been liril tatijvht thr nativeji by /'»t«*r, a A^tfrtt'rfdmr^ Kimr tif Ojfite*. Had he lived in Omvf, he could not have rf<.Mj*>cd ileifuation for fo vifefiil a ilifi every. Before I qviit the la(l of Ihitip ifles, 1 (hall, as fuj>[)lcmcnial to the an- tiq\uties mentioned in n\y 'f*irrv in StntldHiit give a brief account of others foviiul in thefc f^rovij^s. ^'' 'VliC Orkmes, the SthffiiH^s, CAtbnffa, ySutbcrhnd, and Rofs/hiviy with the Urh'idtf, >ve»T, for centuries, polVelfcd by the NonvfigittMS ; and, in many inllanccs, they avlopted their cuJbinis. Of the antient monument* ttill irmaining, fc\Tral arc ix)mmon tt> StAKJimvU and the old inhabi- tant! of UritAin : others fcen'\ peciiliar to their northern conquerors. Among thotc aif the circular buiUiings, known by the names of Piff{fh houfes, iiKra^hy and Duns : the fiHl are of tuore n\odern ilate, and to be expUxlcvl. as tlvey ne\ cr weir the \v\)rk o( the Piiis i the fecond arc adiuTdly right, and poiiu ot»t the founders, who at the fame time be(lo\wd on them tl\cir natal naiiK of Peri^, a defence or callic f, a Stit6-Cctbu' word » and the Highlaiulcrs univfrfally apply to theti? places the OUic name Dw, fignifving a hill defcndetl by a tt>wer J. This alio furnifl\es tlic proof of their \ifc, was thetr no other to l>e diUx>vered. They air confinal to the cintnties once fubjrrt to the crown of Nctw/ry. With few exceptions, thfy aiT built within figlu of riic fea, and one or more within fight of the ©ther J fo that on a fignal by ttre, by flag, or by trun\{>er, they could give ROttee of appt\>achi!»g tlanger, and yield a mutual fuccour. In the Si^Un^ and Orhry iflands, they are mod fretjuently called /fW*/ or • rW^^^ Krf. OfvW. lib. i. c. 7, f Sj* Ihi GkJTA^imm Suf0.G*thknm,\\\tt9 4 M*tiit^\ i.;^. ^i^if, B4,i. lo^. H'ardbills, R K N I E S. XLIII rVardbills, wliich flicws that they were garrifoncd. They had their wW- madbcr *, or watchman, a fort of ccntiitel, who ftood on the top. and chal- lenged all who came in fight. The gackman f was an officer of the fame kind, who not only was on the watch againft furprize j but was to give notice if he faw any fliips in diftrdis. He was illowcd a large Iiorn of generous liquor, which he had always by him, to keep u} lis fpiritst Along the Orhtcy and Srbetland Ihorcs, they almoft form a cl. i j and by that means not only kept the natives in fubjcaion, but wc fituatcd commodiouny "for covering the landing of their countrymen, wiio were I)erpftually roving on piratical expeditions. Thefc towers were crcn made ufe of as ftate-prifons , for we learn from rorf^us, that after Suem luKl lurpnzcd Panl, count of Cathn./s, he carried him mio Sutherland, and confined lum there in a Norwegian tower §. So much has been faid on th.s fub,ea by the Reverend Mr. Cordmr and myfelf, that I Hull only refer to the pages, after faying, that out of our kingdom, no buildings nmilar to thek' arc to be found, except in Scandinavia. On the moun- tain S'walkrg II in Ncnvay is one, tlie Stir-bijkop % at Upfal in Sweden, IS another; and Um/dor^, in the fame kingdom, is a third •*. Thdc towers vary in their inner flrufturc, but externally arc univer- M\y the fame , yet fome have an addition of ftrength on the outfide. 1 he burgh oi Culfwick in S^hetland, notwithllanding it is built on the top of a lull. a.s furroundcd with a. dry ditch thirteen feet broad -, that of Sna^ hurgh m Unfi, has both a wet and a dry ditch j the firft cut, with great labor, tluough the live rock. The burgh o( Moufa is furrounded by a Ok Mou,. ... wall, now reduced to a heap of ftones, and the infide is cylindrical not " taper, as ulual with others. Tiie burgh of //.^,/^, upon an ide in a loch of the lame name, has alfo its addition of a wall i a peculiarity in a caulcway, to join it to the main land, and a fingular internal ftruaurc. • n..GUM. W/ Mf' Orkive t^Jf^yraA' (^ 6>/t/j/f^/i'/i . • SH H ^y / <^/ 7.' X\T7/7 y ' />/ /A' ORKIVEX ^^ SHETT^AKB f ^/^;y. »- 'A%/n//f cr/ (^( ^/if . O R K N I E S. XLV I the lefler area as the two other fides of the outward fence do, terminates at the latter, near ah artificial well. That this was Roman, I greatly fuf- peft. The care for water was a peculiar objeft with that wife nation; but negleded by barbarians. This is inclofed within the rampart, and at a fmall diftance on the outfide, had the protedtion of a mount, which once probably had its caftellet, garrifoned for the further fccurity •. The regular /cr/^ are wanting; in other refpefts it refembles a Roman camp. The fea, over which it impends, has deftroyed one half; the entire part is given in the plate, and the refl: fuppjied with dotted lines. I know but of two periods in which the Romans might have vifiied thefe iflands : one at the time when the fleet of jigricola fubdued the Orknies i the other, when the fleet o( Homrius defeated the ^^^m in the circum. jacent feas. A copper medal of Vefpaftan, with Judaa deviSla f on the reverfe, was found on the-fouth fide o( Main-land, probably loft there by die firft invaders, who might venerate Vefpaftan, under whom many of them had ferved, and who might naturally carry with them fuch honor- able memorials of his reign. The only antiquities found near this place, were fix pieces of brafs, caft into a form the neareft refembling fetters. They were wrapped in a piece of raw hide ; but we cannot pretend to fay that they belonged to the occupiers of the camp. Flint heads of arrows, flint axes, fwords made of the bones of a whale, Stok. W.*po... itones, beads, and antiquities, muft be referred to the carlieft inhabitants at a period in which thefe kingdoms were on a level with the natives of new-difcovered ifiands in the South Sea. Druidical circles of ftones the temples of primeval religion of our ifland, are not uncommon. The fineft and moft entire are thofe at Stennis, in one of the Orkney ifles. The diameter of the circle is about a hundred and ten yards. The higheft ftone fourteen feet. The whole is Angularly furrounded with a broad and deep ditch, probably to keep at a diftance the unhallowed vulgar. At the fame place is a noble femicircle, confifting of four vaft ftones entire, and one broken. The higheft are twenty feet high above ground. Circles. Sbuioircles.. • Fegitiusae re Milit. Ub. iv. c. lo. t Ms.Levj. Behind JtLvr SCHETLAND AND i "Behind them is a mound of earth, conformable to their pofition. !f there never was a number of ftones to complete a circle, this antiquity muft have been one of the kind -.vhich the learned Doftor Borlaje calls a theatre, and fuppofes was defigned for tht exhibition of dramatical performances ♦. I i'ufpeft them to have been eithrr for the purpofes of religion, or judicial tranfaftions ; for the age was probalily not fufficiently refined for the for- Plain Columns, mer amufements. Upright ftones, either memorials of the dead, or vic- tories obtained on the fpot, are very numerous. The moft remarkable is the ftone olSaioTi'm the ifle of Eda. It is a flag, fifteen feet high, five and a half broad, and only nine inches thick. Tr^ f^cry is quite unknown j but it probably refts over a hero of that name. Notwithftanding the long refidence of the Norwegintts in thcfe iflands, I find only one ftone with a Runic infcription, which runs along the fides. The reft of the ftone is plain, and deftitute of the fculptures fo frequent on thofe found in Scan^ dinavia. In tJie wall of the church at Sandnefs, is a ftone with three circles, a femicircle, and a fquare figure, engraven on it. This is the only one which bears anv refemblance to the elegant carved columns at Meigle and ClameSi and which extend, after a very long interval, as far as the church- yard oiFar, on the extreme northern coaft of Cathnejs. Several of thefe have been before attended to. I can only remark, that they are extremely local, and were, by their fimilarity, only the work of a ftiort period. We imagine that the firft, about which we can form any conjedture, was eredled in 994, on the defeat of Camus, the Dane : the laft in 1034, on the murder of Malcolm the Second. In the ifle of Unjl are two Angular circles, near each other. The largeft is fifty feet in diameter, to the outmoft ring j for it confifts of three, con- centrical J the outmoft is formed of fmall ftones, the two inner of earth j through all of which is a fingle narrow entrance to a tumulus which rifes in the centre. The other circle is only twenty-two feet in diameter, and has only two rings, formed of earth : in the cent;- is a barrow, the fides of Sculptured COLVMNS. Sepulchral ANTlQj;iTlJiS Circular. • ^ntij, CormAiall, 195. which O R K N I E S. which are fenced with ftones. No maiks of their having been places of interment have been found, yet moft probably that was their ufe. The links or fands of SkaU, in Sandwich, one of the Orknies, abound in round barrows. Soine are formed of earth alone, others of ftone co- vered with earth. In the former was found a coffin, made of fix flat ftones. They are too Ihort to receive a body at full length : the (k. '-ton* fou .d in them lie with the knees preflfed to the breaft, and the legs doubled along the thighs. A bag, made of rufhes, has been found at the feet of fome of thefe fkeletons, containing the bones, moft probably, of another of the family. In one weje to be ka- multitudes of fmall bee- tles. Whether they were placed there by defign, or lodged there by acci- dent, I will not determine j but, as I have difcovered fimilar infefts in the bag which inclofed the facred Ibisy we may fuppofe that the Egyptians, and the nation to whom thefe tumuli did belong, migiit have had the fame fuperftition refpeding them. On fome of the corpfes interred in this ifland, the mode of burning was obferved. The afhes, depofited in an urn which was covered on the top with a flat ftone, have been ^und in the cell of one of the barrows. This coffin or cell was placed on the ground, then covered with a heap of ftones, and that again cafed with earth and fods. Both barrow and contents evince them to be of a dif- ferent age from the former. Thefe tumuli were in the nature of family- vaults : in them have 1 een found two tiers of coflins ♦. It is probable, that on the de th of any one of the family, the tumulus was opened, and the body interred near its kindred bones. The violence of the winds have, by blowing away the fands in a ce^^tain part of fVeftra, one of the Schetlands^ difc jvered an extenfive bur> ig- - place, once covered with the thicknefs of wenty feet. This feems to have belonged to diflferent nations. One is marked by the tumuli con- fifting of ftones and rubbifti -, fome rounded, others flat at top like trun- cated conr Near them are multitudes of graves, which are difcover- able only by one, vo, three, four, and fometimes even more ftiort upright attvrr • See Mr. lew's account, and plate, J chaoltgia, iii. 276. tab. xiii. Barrow*. Grave.*! or Westra. ftoneS;, XLVIIl SCHETLAND AND ftoncs, fet in the level fand. The corpfe was interred a few feet deep, and covered with a layer of fine clay, to keep the fand from touching it. Not only human bones, but thofe of oxen, horfes, dogs, and fheep, have been found in thefe graves. Befides, were feveral forts of warlike inftruments, battle-axes, two-handed fwords, broad-fwords, brazen dag- gers and fcull-caps, and fwords made of the bones of the whale : knives and combs : beads, brotches, and chains of ornament : a metal fpoon. and a neat glafs cup greatly corroded : fmall flat circular pieces of mar- ble : ftones fhaped like whetftones, and fpherical ftones perforated, fuch as were in former ufe in Scotland for turning of fpindles : but the mod. fingular thing was a thigh-bone clofely incircled by a ring of gold. The tumuli fcem to have been the places of fepulture of the inhabi- tants of the ifles : the graves, thofe of fome foreign nation who had landed here, had a conflid, and proved viftorious. I found my con- jefture on the arms and other matters found in them. The brazen were Norwegian* y the iron belonging to the natives j but the weapons of con- querors and conquered were, with ceremonies refembling thofe at the fu< neral of Pallas^ flung into the graves of the vidorious party. Hinc alii fpolia occifis dlrepta Latinis Conjiciunt igni, galeas enfefque decoros, Frenaque, ferventcfque rotas; pars munera nota, Ipforum clypeos ; et non felicia tela : Multa bourn circa maftantur corpora morti. In Scandinavia. The antiquities of this clafs found in Scandinavia are very numerous, and of a magnitude which evince the extreme population of the country! 1 difcover only three kinds. The firft may be exemplified in the vaft rounded earthen tumulus in Smaland, with a rude monumental upright (lone at top j and near it a fpherical ftone, beautifully carved, flung up in honor of Ingo King of Sweden, in the latter end of the ninth century f : others in honor of Humhlus, and L««fl'«r brother to K:\t\g Angantyn the * Wormii Mon. Dan. 50. Dalhberg Suicia Antiqua, et Hodierna, tab. 314. t Dahlberg Sutcia Antiqua, tab. 322. laft O R K N I E S. laft (urroundal M io bafe wi,h a circle of ™dc ftonc. ♦. The Rami^, RoU « a mount of earth, with three upright pillars, placed fo as to form a tnangular fpace f. Other W,' confift entirely of vaft heap, of fto^eT Severa of the fepulchral memorials are formed of ftones difpofed in ^c '.' cular form: fome of low ftones, like that of the /)<,«> ^King hZ, tfyldeM, placed round the edge of the flat area ofa low mount. He was nam .n battle ^y Ri„,„ King of W« J. who paid him all funera honors burnt h,s body with great pomp, and placed around his tumulu the numerous bodies of his faithful followers who were flain around their prmce ; and their places of reft are marked by muUitudes of fmall earthen b ™ws, wuh a nngle ftone at the top of each. On the regal mount is a flat ftone, w,th five hollows in it, bafons to receive the bl<«i of the vic- tims Others conflft of fmall ftones with ^M-hericn. as the mijh ftyle them, lofty rude pillars, intermixed. In fome the leffer ftones de- part from the circular form, are oval or oblong : their edges are often con- tiguous, and thofe parts are often marked with a lofty pillar §. Two , pillars are fometimes found, with an enormous ftone fet from top to top, fo as to form the .femblancc ofa gateway ,. Columns of great heigh are a fo found, furrounded at their bafe with two circles of fmall ftones •♦. Final y, the ftones are difpofed fo as to form wedges, fquares, long rows. as we 1 as circles. The firft denoted that armies of foot and horfe had prevaled: the fecond, troops of warriors : the third, duds of champions: and the laft, the burial, of families ft- Multitudes of fingle obelifcs are fcattered over the country: fome quite plain; others infcribed with Rumc charafters, memorial of the dead, intermixed with well-fancied or- naments J J. I muft here mention the famous tomb found at Kivih. a parifl, of 104, and Pennjkiold Monum. Suio-Goth. p. 216. XI JVormii Monum, Dan, 64, & paflim. " Schonas XLIS ' m t m !■ i RUNIC INVOCATION. >■ ; ^ Scbortc-n in Sweden, in the centre of a vaft tumulus of round ftones ; its length was about feven Swedi^ yards, its breadth, two. It was oblong and confifted of feverai Hat ftones, the infide of which was carved with figures of men and animals, and the weapons of the age, axes and fpears heads. A figure was placed in a triumphal car : cornets feemed found- ing : captives with their hands bound behind, guarded by armed men ; and figures, fuppofed to be female, formed part of the conquered people. It is fuppofed that die Roman fleet made an accidental defcent here, had a fuccefsful fkirmilh with the natives, might have loft their leader, and left this mark of their viftory amidft the barbarous conquered. The tomb had been broken open by the country people, and whatfoever it might have contained was ftolen away and loft *. In many of the iumuli are found die weapons and other matters which had been depofited with the burnt bones of the deceafed. In thofe of the earlieft ages are the ftone weapons, fuch as axes and fpears heads made of flint. In others have been met widi a fmall lamp, a key, and fwords of brafs of the fame form with fome of the Roman fwords f. A fuperftition attending the fwords was fingular: thofe of higheft temper were fuppofed to have been made by Duergi, dwarfs or fairies, and were thought to have been irrefiftible. The reader will not be difpleafed with the elegant ver- fionjl: of a /?««/<; poem, defcribing the incantations of a fair heroine, to obtain the magical fword out of the tomb of her deceafed father. The Runic INVOCATION of Hervor, the Daughter of Angantyr, Who demands, at her Father's Tomb, a certain Sword, called Tirjingy which was buried with him. H E R V R. Awake, Jgantyr ! To thy tomb. With fleep-expelling charms, I come. Break thy drowfy fetters, break ! 'Tis Hervor calls — Awake ! awake ! ^irfing, made by fairy hands, Hervor from thy tomb demands. Hervardur, Hiorvardur, hear ! Lift, oh lift, my father dear I • See M.For/m«T's carious diflertation on this antiquity; printed at i««y ,740 t Dalherg, tab. 3,4. j By my friend, the Reverend Mr. Williams of Vron. Each : :■ ■•■ RUNIC INVOCATIO N. Each from his filent tomb I call ; Ghofts of the dead, awaken all ! With helmet, Ihield, and coat of mail. With fword and fpear, I bid ye hail ! Where tvvifted roots of oak abound. And undermine the hollow ground. Each from his narrow cell I call ! Ghofts of tue dead, awaken all ! In what darkfome cavern deep, Do the fons oiAngrym fleep ? Duft and aflies tho' ye be. Sons oi Angry m, anfwer me, Lift'ning in your clay-cold beds. Sons of Eyvor, lift your heads. Rife, Hior'vafdur, rife and fpeak j Hervardur, thy long filence break. Duft and afhes tho' ye be. One and all, oh anfwer me. Never, oh never may ye reft ; But rot and putrefy unblefs'd. If ye refufe the magic blade. And belt, by fairy fingers made ! Angantyr. Ceafe, oh daughter, ceafe to call me ; Didft thou know what will befall thee. Thou hadft never hither fpcd. With Runic fpells to wake the dead : Thou, that in evil hou; art come To brave the terrors of the tomb. Nor friend, nor weeping father, gave Angantyr\ reliques to the grave j And Tiffing, that all-conquering fword. No longer calls Angantyr lord. A living warrior wears it now H E R vo R. 'Tis falfe, Angantyr j only thou. So may great Odin ever keep In peace the turf where thou deft fleep ; As Ttrfing ftill befide thee lies, Th' attendant of thy obfequies ! My juft inheritance I claim ; Conjure thee by a daughter's name^ Thy only child! A N G A N T Y R. Too well I knew Thou wouldft demand what thou ftialt rue. By Tirfing'i fatal point flxall die The braveft of thy progeny. A warlike fon (hall Hervor bear, Her'vorh pride, and Tirfing's heir ; Already, daughter, I forefee Heidrek the hero's name will be : To him, the young, the bold, the ftrong. Tiffing hereafter will belong. He R vo R. Ne'er (hall my inchantments ceafe. Nor you, ye fpirits, reft in peace. Until ye grant what I demand. And 'iirfing glitters in my hand. Angantyr. Oh Virgin, more than woman bold ! Of warlike mien, and manly mould ! What has induc'd thy feet to tread The gloomy maufions of the dead. At this lone hour, devoid of fear. With fword, and (hield, and magic fpear ? He r vo R. The caufe thou know'ft, why to thy tomb I've wander 'd thro* the midnight gloom : Yield then the Fairies work divine j Thou art no father elfe of m > le ; But goblin damned, Angantyr. » Then hear me. Maid, Tnat art not ev'n of death afraid ! H 2 Hialmar'i h ^n RUNIC INVOCATION. Kalmar*8 bane thou /halt command j The fatal fword is in my hand : But fee the flame? that round it rife I Doft thou the furious fire defpife ? H B R V O R. Ves ; I dare feize, amidft the fire. The objjdl of my foul's defire ; Nor do thefe eyes behold with dread. The flame that plays around the dead. A N G A N T Y R. Hafh Maid ! will noticing then control The purpofe of thy daring foul ? But hold— ere thou fhouldft fall a prey To thefe fierce flames that round it play. The fword from out the tomb I'll bring Go, and the fong of triumph fing. H E R V O R. Ofl^spring of kings 1 I know thee now. And thus before thy prefence bow ; Father, Hero, Prince, and Friend ! To thee my grateful knees I bend. Not half fo happy had I been, Tho' Siandinavia haii'd me queen. Angantyr. How art thou to thy int'reft blind. Weak woman, tho' of dauntlefs mind ! Tirfing, the objea: of thy joy. Thy future offspring fliall deftroy. H E R V R. My feamen call ; I muft away : Adieu, O King ! I cannot flay. Fate, do thy worft ! in times to come Be what it may, my children's doom ! Angantyr. Take then, and keep Hia/mar'a bane, Dy'd in the blood of heroes flain. Long {hall the fatal pledge be thine, Hervor, if truly I divine ; The fell, devouring, poifon'd blade. For death and for deftruftion made. He r \' o r . With joy the two-edg'd fword I take. Nor reck the havock it will make ; Fofl"effing which, I little rue Whate'er my frantic fons may do. Angantyr, Daughter, farewell ' as thou doft live. To thee the death of twelve I give : To thee, O maid of warlike mind. What Angrym'^ fons have left behind. H E R V O R. Angantyr, reft in peace ! and all Ye ghofts, wno have obey'd my call • Reft in your mould'ring vaults below ! While from this houfe of death I go. Where, burfting from the vap'rous ground. Meteors flioot, and blaze around. 1 Aall juft mention, that the antient Smndinavians had alfo their Crm Z!:t ' "° °*" """"• '' '"^'"''^'' i" ^ f-J-re of Circles, for the purpofe of religious rites, were not wanting here. The MneM^. or crcle of lofty rude colun,ns in /T^ Gc,i!.„,. was 2bl^i * Wermii Mon, Dan. p. 8, for FEROE ISLES. for the facrifices of the heathens*; and the great ftones at Finjiad, dif- pofed in form of a ceh, and called Si. Birgitta's Oratory^, was no other than a temple of worfhip, analogous, probably, to that of the Druids. The next ftep is to THE FEROE ISLANDS, A group about two hundred and ten miles to the north-weft of the northern Schetland, between lat. 6i, 15. and 6a, 30. There are leventeen which are habitable, each of which is a lofty mountain arifing out of the waves, di. vided from the others by deep and raoid currents. Some of them are deeply indented with fecure harbours , providence feeming to . /e favored man- kind with the fafefl retreats in the moft boifterous feas. All are very fteep and moft of them faced with moft tremendous precipices. Thefe iflands have been evidently vulcanic, and produce many fubftances in common with Iceland, fuch as very beautiful zeolites both cryftallized and fheafy, moft ele- gant calcedonies tuberofeand mixed with lava and tufa j alfo ftratified cal- cedonies, difpofed in white femipeilucid and yellowilh opake broad layers. They are often found mixed with lava, and of later creation, and fuppofed by M. Bergn^an to have been depofited by the Gey/ers, or heated waters of the vulcanoes. The furface of the mountains confifts of a Ihallow foil of remarkable fertility, for barley, the only corn fown here, yields above twenty for one ; and the grafs affords abundant pafturage for fheep The exports are faked mutton and tallow, goofe quils, feathers, and Eider down, and, by the induftry of the inhabitants, knit woollen waiftcoats, caps, and ftockings. No trees beyond the fize of juniper, or ftunted wil- lows, will grow here : nor are any wild quadrupeds to be met with, except rats and mice, originally efcaped from the Ihipping. The lift of land birds is very fmall :-The Cinereous Eagle , the Lanner; the Sparrow Hawk t; a pedes of Owl , theRAv^N, and Hooded Crow, are the pernicious fpecies. Ravens were fo deftrudive to the Lambs and Sheep, that in old times every boatman was obliged to bring into the feffions-houfe, on St, Olaus's day, the beak of one of thofe * DaIhherg,x^h.2So. t The fame, irj. X Thcfe on the authority of Mr. Deies, who wrote the hiftory of thefe ifles in 1670. birds. LIII Feroe Isi es. ill vm Land Bird», XIV III I" I T {■■ ll H ^1 Fowling. From above. FEROE ISLES. birds, or pay one fkin, which was called the Raven-Jine, m cafe of negleft. The remaining land fowl are Wild Pigeons and Stares, White Wag * TAILS, Wrens, and fonietinnes the Swallow. The Snow Bunting only refts here in fpring, on its paflage northward. The Heron is fometimes met with. The Spoon -Bill is Common*. The Sea Pie, Water Rail, and Lafwing, are feen here. The birds of the rocks, fuch as Puffins, Razor Bills, and Little A jks. Foolish and Black Guil- lemots, fwarm here ; aiid the Geyir-fugl, or Great Auk, at certain pe- riods vifits thefe iflands. The laft, by reafon of its Ihort wing incapable of flight, neftles at the foot of the clifl^s. The Skua, Arctic, Black- backed, and Herring Gulls, Fulmars, Manks, Stormy Pbtrels, Imber and Northern Divers, Wild Swans and Geese, (the Swans only vernal paffengers towards the north) Eider Ducks, Havelda or Long-tailed Ducks, Corvorants, and the Sula Gannet, form the fum of the palmated fowl of thefe inhofpitable fpots. The manner of fowling is fo very ftrange and hazardous that the de- fcription fhould by no means be omitted. Neceffity compels mankind to wonderful attempts. The ciifFs which contain the objeds of thdr fearch are often two hundred fathoms in height, and are attempted from above and below. In the firft cafe, the fowlers provide themfelves with a rope eighty or a hundred fathoms in length. The fowler faftens one end about bis-waiftand between his legs, recommends himfelf to the proteftion of the Almighty, and is lowered down by fix others, who place a piece of timber on the margin of the rock, to prevent the rope from wearing againft the fharp edge. They have befides a fmall line fattened to the body of the adventurer, by which he gives fignais that they may lower or raife him, or Ihift him from place to place. The laft operation is attended with great danger, by the loofening of the ftones, which often fall on his head, and would infallibly deftroy him, was it not proteftcd by a ftrong thick cap ; but even that is found unequal to fave him againft the weight of the larger fragments of rock. The dexterity of the fowlers is amazing; they will place their feet againft the front of the precipice, and dart themfelves • Biunnich, p. 46. fomc FEROE ISLES. fome fathoms from it, with a cool eye furvey the places where the birds neftle, and again Ihoot into their haunts. In fome places the birds lodge in deep recefles. The fowler will alight there, difengage himfelf from the rope fix It to a ftone, and at his leiPjre colieft the booty, faften it to his girdle, and refume his pendulous feat. At times he will again fpring from the rock, and in that attitude, with a fowling net placed at the end of a ftaff, catch the old birds which are Hying to and from their retreats. When he hath finilhed his dreadful employ, ne gives a fignal to his friends above, who pull him up, and Ihare the hard-earned profit. The feathers are preferved for exportation : the flelh is partly eaten frelh, but the greater portion dried for winter's provifion. The fowling from below has its fhare of danger. The party goes on the expedition in a boat; and when it has attained the bafe of the preci- pice one of the moft daring, having faftened a rope about his waift, and f rnifted himfelf with a long pole with an iron hook at one end, dther climbs, or IS tnruft up by his companions, who place a pole under his breech to the next footing fpot he can reach * He, by means of the rope, brings up one of the boats crew, the reft are dr.wn up in the Tame manner, and each is furnilhed with his rope and fowling-fta/ They then continue their progrefs upwards in the fame manner, till they arrive at the TleTthen It • "' ""'" f °"^ ^'^ '"^ ""'''' ''''' ^ ^^^^^ «^ them. They then aft in pairs, one faftens himfelf to the end of his affociate's rope and in places where birds have neftled beneath his footing, he per mits himfelf to be lowered down, depending for his fecurity to the ftreLh of his companion who is to haul him up again, but it fometimes hap- pens that .he perfon above is overpowered by the weight, and both ine- vitably perin.. They fling the fowl down to the boat, which attends their motions, and receives the booty. -They often pafs feven or eight days in this tremendous employ, and lodge in the crannies which they find in the face ot the precipice. The fea which furrounds thefe iflands is extremely turbulent. The • InP««/./>M,,:',:i;y;.JV,,«,,_,, ii.6,. is a plate expreifive of this n,anner of fowling. tides tv From belov^. , f. LVI |! 1 FEROE ISLES. tides vary greatly on the weftern and eaftern fides. On the firft, where is received the uninterrupted flood of the ocean from the remote Greenland, the tide rifes feven fathoms : on the eaftern fide it rifes only three. Dread- ful whirlwinds, called by the Banes, oes, agitate the fea to a ftrange de- gree j catch up a vaft quantity of water, fo as to leave a great temporary chafm in the fpot on which it falls, and carries away with it, to an amaz- ing diftance, any fifhes which may happen to be within reach of its fury. Thus great Ihoals of Herrings have been found on the higheft mountains of Feroe. It is equally refiftlefs on land, tearing up trees". Hones, and ani- mals, and carrying them to very dillant places. We muft no longer laugh at the good ai chbilTiop *, who gravely tells us, that at times, the Rats called Lemming are poured down from the clouds in great ihowers on the vilps of Norway, We aflent to the fad i but muft folve the phoenomenon by afcnbing it to a whirlwind, as i-e does in one place i yet immediately fuppofes they may be bred in the upper regions out of feculent matter. Among the numerous whirlpools of thefe feas, that of Suderoe, near the ifland of the fame name, ].; the moft noted. It is occafioned by a crater, fixty-one fathoms in depth in i>x centre, and from fifty to fifty-five on the fides. The water forms four fierce circumgyrations. The point they begin at is on the fide of a large bafon, where commences a range or rocks running fpirally, 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 equidiftant wreaths, with a channel from thirty-five to twenty fathoms in depth between each. On the out- fide, beyond that depth, the fea luddenly finks to eighty and ninety. On the fouth borderof the bafon i^ a lofty rock, called Sumboe MunKnoit^, for the multitude of birds which fre-quent it. On one fide, the water is only three or four fathoms deep , on the other fifteen. The danger at moft times, efpecially in ftorms, is very great. Ships are irrefiftibly drawn in : the rudder lofes its power, and the waves beat as high as the mafts • io that an efcape is almoft miraculous : yet at the reflux, and in very itill • Olaut Magnus, Archb. of Vpfd. weather. i\ L ICELAND. weather the mhabltant. will venture in boats, for the fake of fifl,i„» Mr D^iaomm .he t.mes of greateft danger. It is to be hoped tha af tent.on w.ll be pa,d to the various periodical appearances of^ p It me™,n. the caufe of „h.ch is ve,y fatisfaftoril, explained by thewZ, Mankind found their way to thefe iflands fome time before the difco veryo /«W NaM,,. a mno.gia>, pirate, had retired here as h: only place of fecurity he could find f. About this time «,rl V Mn pofl-efl-ed himfelf of A^....,. ^Id flung off The Sl^y 'ke 7 party was formed agamft him, but it was foon fubdued, and the male contents qu.tt.ng the kingdom, retired to the HeM4a, OrHies, M«W and f.r„, and gave „fe to the Nor^,pa„ reign in all thofe iflands. From the Fene .flands, the hardy Sca„dmavia«s made the next ftep i„ their northern migrations, to ^' tvil ICELAND. I muft premife, that there is the higheft probability that this ifland was difcovered m an age moft remote to theirs: and that it was the Th.kot PyAe.s an dluftrious M.rfm... at left cotemporary with 1^ t and who pumed his difcoveries towards the north, I his cotf^mfn' Eu,hy.enes d,d beyond tl,e hne. Py.heas arrived at Thule, an iflandTfays he, fi. days fadmg northward from Britain, where, he informs us, wa. con- tinual day ^d night for fix months alternately %. In the firft he is very accurate. A vefle from rar„„>i w.vs about two years ago exaffly Z ..me ,n its voyage from the OrknUs ,o AWW, but with a flir wind i[may be done in eight and forty hours. So eircumftanced, there are many part' ofBrUmn far more foud> than the Orknks. from which the voyage might be performed in the time mentioned by Py>heas. He does not exaftfy hit on the length of day and night; but he could have been at no other, at that diftance p ',u ^'v'lf"'' ^\^'- + '^'"'''' '■'•"'"■'•'M, 5. t The works of * from Iceland. i.vin ICELAND. ! 1 i from BrUainy but Icelandy in which there was a moll remarkable abfence of . light. As to Naddodd, in 86 1, he was accidentally driven by a tempeft to the eaftern fide of Iceland, to a place now called Reidarfiall. He found the country covered with fnow, and therefore named it Snxland; yet he returned home full of its praifes. Soon after, Gardar, a Swede, experi- enced the fame fortune. On a voyage to the Hebrides, he was tempeft- driven to the fame ifland j on which, by the advice of his motlier, who was a fort of diviner, he landed at Horn. At this period Iceland was cloathed with wood from the Ihore to the very tops of the mountains. He wintered there, and likewife returned full of its praifes *. Floke, a celebrated pirate, was the next adventurer. He took with him three Ravens, and, like another ?Joah, made them the augury of the land. Before he failed, he performed a great facrifice for the fuccefs, upon a vaft- pile of ftones, which he raifed for the piirpofe. This points out another origin of the vaft tumuli we fo frequently fee. He made the Schctland and the Feroe iHes his firft fteps j and loofed from the laft for Iceland, the neareft point of which is about five hundred and forty miles diftant. His firft Raven returned to Feroe : the fecond flew back to the ihip : the third diredted him to the wiftied-for land f. He wintered there. 'The cattle he brought with him perilhed through want. The fpring proved unufually cold, and the fea appeared full of ice -, for which reafon he beftowed on the ifland the name it at prefent beais. Floke grew difcon- tented with his voyage : and returned full of difpraifcs of the country. This did not difcourage other adventurers, all of them Scandinavians, thruft out of the exuberant northern hive. The reft of the world, which their country- men ravaged, was affuredly too fmall for them, otherwife they never would have colonized almoft the moft wretched fpot in the northern hemifphere, Ambition poflibly aftuated the leaocrs, who might think it Better to reign in hell thaii ferve in heaven. • Ifland^t landnamaiok, p. 7. f Same, p. 8. rorfceus, Hijl. mvfg. ii. ^t. Colony 1 1 1 1 ••: , 1 ^ ' a c a ICELAND. Colony after colony arrived. They confederated, and formed a republic, which exifted near four hundred years ; but with as many feuds and flaughters as cquld happen in a climate where luxury might pamper and corrupt the inhabitants. In 1261, wearied with their diflenfions, they voluntarily re-united themfclves to their mother-country, Norway^ undel* the reign of its monarch Ilaquin. It is remarkable, that the poetic genius of their aboriginal country flouriflied with equal fublimity in every cli- mate. The ScaldSi or bards, retained their fire in the inhofpitable climate of Iceland, as vigoroufly as when they attended on their chieftains to the mild air of Spain, or Sicily, and fung their valiant deeds. Everything which furniflied topics to the poets of other countries, was, in the moft remote period, wanting here. Groves, verdant meadows, purling dreams, and gentle zephyrs, were totally unknown j and in theif Head, ftunted flirubs, a tliin herbage, rude torrents, and fierce gales, reign in every part. We admit the apology of tlie learned u.'orfceus for the pre- fent ftate of liis country *. Violent tempefls might cover whole, traifts with the unliable fand, eruptions of water from the mountains c'efolate fome parts, earthquakes bury vaft extents of fertile land with fragments of rocks, and inundations of the fea change the face of others. But loft Icenery was not requifite to infpire poets who were to fing only the pre-- paiations for warlike exploits, the flaughter of a battle, the deeds of their heroes, and the magic folemnities of fuperftitions. The ifland, at prefent, exhibits to the traveller amazing flopes of lava, which once ftreamed from the vulcanoes, and terminated in the fea. Such is the appearance, about three miles from Hafnaifoiri, in lat. 64. 4. of vaft malFes of lava piled to a montanous height upon each other, broken, vitrified, fharp, rude, and black. In parts, fandy trads intervene : in others, a foil peculiar to the place, a tufa, originated from the violenc eruptions of impure water which rufh from the mountains, attendant on the fiery eruptions. Vallies compofed of a very thin foil, afford grafs for a numerous breed of cattle and flieep. Here is found variety of fpecies of the beft graffes ; of the aira, pa,feftuca, and carex. Part is harvefted againft winter i but not in fuch plenty, but that the farmer is obliged LIX I ;: -11 Hift, Noriveg. i. 12. I 2 often m.,1 'LX Woods long LOST. Drift-woob. ICELAND. often to fed his ftock with the wolf-fift, or the heads of cod-fifl, beaten Tm ; "IZt :'"' " ■'''"'" •>"' "' '''■ -^^ "''" rnoi wilTno cemty compel both man and bead to recur ! wLhp:riX7pa^„:rf^l::^ir *^ ^"^— «- fewftu'ntTbtcf/^'t "'". '™^ """ ™'*'''' -'"•» - «-P' a lew Itunted b.rch fcarcely ten feet high, and four inches in diameter ■ and n aii T °L:; r '" '"i' ""'* '"'' "^= »^ ■■"-■^ - "^ ^^ -^ - £»™. and ^ '' "'' ""'""''''""'' '""PP''''^ "'* 'Irift-wood from W/on h "°f "" ™='*' =» ^''^'"'e/i on the north-eaft, and h1- /™»A on the north-well. That woods were found Nere in very remote C: rsTh'lt,'' '°'" '"'""--^"f >--'"' -. w^hTr! of ra'nch ; 1,1, "'.'T '™" °^ "^ ^^^'^"'^ ""^in. the marks ot branches, and circles of the annual growth of the wood : fome pieces are even capable of being planed. It is found in the fiffures of fhe r^Z much comprefled by their weight, and in pieces fometin-,es big enourto oftiripird "'r- ™^'='---"-ftdasluel. b'utit ot s rupphed, m fome meafure, ly the drift-wood, by peat and bv eyeral ftrange fubffitutes, the effeft of necefllty. Sm thfpU the >/«rW to fea-coal in their bufinefs. The beds of this foflfl ftronl lence fince the original creation ; and raifed out of the fea in later rlm« as others have been known to have done. D.U. JatlZ L ve^ Te' 0^»^W; nia in the time of PU„,*, and in the be;inniro 'thU the r mf: r+ -■;"'• ^""^ ^ - "- --ng. - iAand is forming by tne lame caufe, not remote from the RAhnes, part of the verv mJa ■ queftion. But thefe/««. or>«. W. are c £y the reml^of a,^ ...ntforefts, overturned and buried by earthquakes, Iftthe Xr^ • iV- -^«'. lib. ii. c. 87. V. 196, &c. t Moft admirably defcribed iA the i'-&. TV^^y; ^^,,y^. of '%^ ICELAND. of the iQanc*. Let nne add to this another y of, from the nuinber of its vegetables : there being found on it not tcwer than thr-e hundred and nine perfedt, and two hundred and thirty-three cryptogamous plr^nts. On the ifle of AJcenfion, which is totally and aboriginally vulcanic, a Flora of not more than feven pL. s is to be feen *. This vaft ifland extends from d^. 15. to about 67. 18. north laticude : is reckoned to be fiv hundred and fixty Englijh mile long, and about two hundred and fifty broad f. It has a rugged coaft, indented deeply with fecurc bays j but faced with very few ides. It lies in the Hyperborean ocean, div d from Greenland by a ftreight about three hundred Englijh miles broad, reckoning from Huitferk in Greenland to Snafiall-nes in Ice- land %. The whole is traverfed v ith great ridges of mountains j fome naked, and ufually free from fnow, by reafon of the faline and fulphuroua particles with which th abound. Others, called Jokkuler, are cafcd with eternal ice and fnow i anu ..re the glacieres oi Iceland. Of thefe, Snajiall Jokkuly which hangs over the fea in the fo! -' weft part of the ifland, is far the higheft||. Out of thefe, at diff( -ent periods, have been tremendous eruptions of fire and water, he burlt .f which is attended with a moft terrific noife : flames and balls J fire iflue out with the fmoke : and fliowers of ftones are vomited up ; of which there has been an inftance of one weighing near three hundred pounds being flung to the diftance of four miles. The heights of few of the mountains have been taken j but that of the Hecla-fiall is not iar fhort of feventeen hundred yards. Of this fpecies of mountain, Hecla has been moft celebrated, ftanding within fight of the numerous Ihi] iing which for ages have frequented this ifland : the records of Iceland enuinerate ten of its eruptions fince the arrival of the Norwegians. It was the hell of the northern nations; but they feem divided in their opinions, whether the pains of the damned arofe from fire, or, what was more tremendous to the natives of thefe countries, from the cold §. To bathe in fiery floods, or to refide In thrilling regions of thick-ribbed ice. • OJleck's Voy. ii. 98. Torfter's Voy. ii. 575, 576. f MalUt, i. 15. \ Mr. Thorkelin, \\ See Olajen, i. tab. xvii. ^ Barthelinus dt Cmmptu Mortis, 359, Hecla LXI Planti, num- ber or. ii ) '■ liW HECli ^:«^, .v ^^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) A ^^/ /A^'^. i^ 1.0 I.I ■- ilM ■^ 140 IM 2.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 ^ ^ 6" — ► 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 4^ l\ ;\ \ - o ^9> V V) LXII Eruptions of Hecla. I i ! Hecla proved TO BE Hell. ICELAND. Hetla has been known to have had only ten eruptions between the years 1 104 and 1693 i from the laft period it remained quiefcent till the year 1766, when It burft out in aames and lava. It emitted flames in 177 1 and 1772 i but did not overflow with Jte»na, or a ftone flood. But other vul- canoes have, in the prefent century, proved the fpiracles to the internal fires oUcelaud. Fiery eruptions are not confined to the mountains. A few years ago they burfl: out of the fulphureous foil of the low parts of ^-^^Z- tafieldSyfelotipvoViticti and the lava had overflown the country for the fpacc of thirty miles, and at laft reached the fea, deftroying evei y thing in Its progrefs. It dried up the rivers, and filled their beds with lava. Moors in fonie places ftopped its courfe ; but it totally changed their nature It had taken to the deferts of the fame province, and began to fpread to the eaft, or Mule Syjfel, the moft populous and fruitful part of uie ifland j nor were there any figns of its ceafing at the time when this account was fent to me *. The author of i\ieSfeculum Regale contends ftrongly, that Hecla ovght to have the honor of being the feat of the damned, in oppofition to ^tm-, which he clearly proves by thefe arguments : * De flammis y€t»^is fami * percepi quod admodum furent; hs vero et lignum comburunt et ter- ' ram. Jam in Dialogo fandi Gregori, perhibetur in Sicilia, igneque ^ Ibidem ardente. pcenarum locum efle; in igne vero, qui in Islandia flagrat, multo majore verifimilitudine concludi pofle reor certum poe- ^ narum_ locum efle. Ignis enim Sicilia, cum terram et ligna confu- mat, vivas res fibi in alimentum convertit : lignum quippe vitam habet, ^ utpote quod crefcat, virentiaque folia emlttat^ ac tandem mori inci- ^ piens, flaccefcat et arefcat : • quamdiu autem viret, vivum dici meretur j ^ et ubi flaccefcit, in extremis agere. Vitam autem terra; non de nihilo tribues, cum infignem fniftuum copiam proferat, quibus decidentibus et putrefadis, novos iterum fruftus producit; neque minus eapropter vi- ^ vere dicenda eft, quod ex ipfa fads fint omnes creature corpore^. Ho- rum utrumque, lignum nempe et terram, ignis Sicilia comburit, iifque III I • See the account of this dreadful calamity in the Appends alltur. ICELAND. txnt Mountains oy ICtLANO. ' alitur. Ignis autera Islandi^e ligna terramve, quamvis in eum conji- » ciantur, non comiurit; lapides autem et duriflima faxa, ut fuum alitnwi- * turn, confumit, iifque nutritur non fecus ac ignis communis aridis lignjs, « Nee tarn dura cautes aut lapis invenitur, quin ccrae ad inftar liqucfcant, ' ac deinde, pinguis olei more, flarnmam concipiant j ligna vcro injefta * didtu* ignis exterius tantum adurit, penitus nunquan. confumit, Iccirco ' quoniam hie ignis inanimatis Jolum creaturis, cujulmodi lapides et faxa efle * novimus, amat accendi, et rebus, quas a communi igne folent ccnfumi, * nutriri recujaty mortuus jure dici meretur j ideoque de ipfo, potius quam ' aliis, verifiiriiliter concluditur, quod fit ignis infernalis, cum mortuae fint * omnes res quas infernus habet.' The mountains of Iceland are of two kinds, primitive and pofterior j the firft confift of ftiata, ufually regularly, but fometimes confufed, laid on each other. They are formed of different forts of ftone, without the left fymptom of fire. Some are compofed of different forts oi Jaxim arena- Hum, or fand, or free ftone; petrofilex, or chert, flaty or fiffile ftone, and various kinds of earths, and boles, and patiU; different forts oi breccia, or conglutinated ftonesj jafpers of different kinds j rt{tz.d:mg fpathuniy or what is ufually Med Iceland cryftalj the common thomhoid /pathum -, chalcedonies, ftratified and botryoid j zeolites of the moft elegant kinds j chryftals, and various other fubftances that have no relation to vulcanoes. The Snafiall Jokkul is far the loftieft of the icy mountains, being about two thoufand two hundred and eighty-feven yards high. From the fum mit is a tremendous profpeft of vulcanic remains, even as far as the eye can reach. 'WtSnafiall-nesy or cape which darts from it, towers to about the height of three or four hundred fathoms. By the great map of Iceland, made by the direftion of die king o( Den- Jokkuls of. mark, and completed in 1734, by Cnopfy military furveyor, it appears that fome of the jokkuls, or mountains, cafed widi ice, have been fwallowed up by the convulfions of the earth, in very diftant periods. Thofe oiBreida- merkar and Skeida, in Skaftafield Syjfel, are given as inftances. Probably the great vatns, or lakes, with which Iceland abounds, may have been once the fite of fuch finkings of mountains. The ingenious Mr. Snafiall JoKKULu EN SWALLOWED UP, iXIV Rocks op Drango. liAV.^. Okes. ICELAND.' Mr. mitehurjt records feverai Inftances in other parts of the world • In the ifland in queftion, that vaft lake Myvatn may have been one j its" bot- tom IS entirely formed oUava, divided by deep cracks, which give Ihelter during winter to the abundance of trouts this lake is ftocked with. It is only five fathoms deep, but originally was of a vaft depth. In 1728 it wa« nearly filled by an eruption of the great mountain Krafle: the fiery ftream took its courfe toward Myvatn, ran into it with a horrible crackling and hiflingj and this phenomenon continued till 1730, when it ceafed being by that time exhaufted. * HomM id, or the coaft by the North Cafe, is verv high j from three to four hundred fathoms. The fine rocks o{ Drango are moft pifturefque ftacks, feven in number, of a pyramidal fhape, rifing out of the fea at a fimall diftance from the cliffs i four are of a vaft height, and form a moft magnificent fcenery. Solvahamar is a tremendous range of vulcanic rocks, compofed entirely of flags, and the front covered in the feafon with fea fowl. It is cndlefs to name all the places which bear the marks of fire, in various forms, either by being vitrified, changed to a fiery color, ragged, and black , or bear the marks of having run in a fmooth floping courfe for miles to the fea, and hardened into memorials of the horrible phenomenon. The ifland produces moft forts of the lava which other vulcanic places have thrown upj the dark grey perforated kind, fimilar to the toadftone of Berbyjhtre -, the Iceland agate, or pumex vitreus, both the niger and viri^ its: fomehave conje toed this to have been the lapis obftdianus of the antients, which they formed into ftatues f. The fineft I ever faw was brought from Vulcano, oS the coaft oUkily, but it feems very iU calcu- lated forfculpture. The pumex vukani is alfo found here, the cinerarius and the arenaceus. Befides thtjuturbrand, jet is found here in quantity ' Certain iro.a ores are found in different parts ; and that elegant copper ore, the malachites, with a naturally poliflied green furface, rifincr into tu bera, is not unfrequent. Horrebow fpeaks of native fil ver -, but "he mine- • Whiuhurji on the Earth, fecond edit. 7,, 72. t PUnii, Wjt. Nat. lib, xxxv,. c. 26. . ral ICELAND. LXV ral wealth of the illand will probably be long latent. The (lavery under which the poor natives labor, will ever difcourage their from effefting » difcovery, of which others are to reap the advantage. Aftratum of fulphur is found n^zt Myvatn, from nine inches to two Svlphu.. feet in thicknefs j it is partly of a lemon colour, and partly of a deep orange. Immediately over the fulphur is a blue earth ; above that a vitrio- lic and aluminous earth j and beneath the fulphur a ftratum of reddi.'h bole. This fulphur has been worked and refined by the commercial company of Copenhagen. Semipellucid, and I think genuine native fulphurs, are un- known in /../W. The fulphur mines in G«/^^m^^^^/,/ a: by no means inferior to thefe, Basaltes in variety of forms or degrees of cryftallization, are found in B..a.t«. many parts of Iceland, from a cracked furface, to a completion of the co- lumnar fhape. The moft curious are thofe in Bmla, the higheft moifti- t9.minBorgar-fiordSyfel. This is of a grey color The Fountains of many of the vallies are of a moft extraordinary na. Kuer, turej are called F. v, and form at iim^s jets d'eaux of fcilding water, 'nojets**oW: ninety-four feet high, and thirty in diameter, creating the moft magni- ficent gerbes in nature ! efpecially when backed by the fetting fun. They arife out of cylindrical tubes of unknown depths: ne:ir the furface they expand into apertures of a funnel (hape, and the mouths fpread into large extent of ftalaftitical matter, formed of fuccefllve fcaly concentric undu- lations. The playing of thefe ftupendous fpou;:s is foretold by noifes roaring like the cataraft of Niagara, The cylinder begins to fill : it rifes gradually to the furface, and gradually encreafes its height, fmoking amaz- ingly, and flinging up great ftones. After attaining its greateft height it gradually finks till it totally difappcars. Boiling;>/i d'eaux, and boiling fprings; are frequent in moft parts of the iHand. In many parts they are applied to the culinary ufes of the natives. The moft capital is that wjiich is called Geyfer, in a plain rifing into fmall hills, and in the midfl, of an amphitheatre, bounded by the moft magnificent and various- Ihaped icy mountains i among which the three-headed Heck foarspre. eminent. K Hueravalle w-t nil J.XVI I In the Sea. J C E L A N D. Hueravalle is fpoken of by Olaffen as the moft furprifing coUeilion of boihng water, or jets d'eaux, in the iOand. The mountain grafs grows in plenty near them ; and not far from the burning hugel or tumulus, formed round one of thefe jets, is a lake in which fwans were fwimming ; and in a fmall fpring were feveral trouts : fo near to each other is the cold and the boihng water. Eaftward and fouthward are great trafts of Kiol-hraun, or trafts covered with vaft maffes of lava. Hueravalle takes its name from huerfva, to whirl round ; wadirhwirfel fignifies a whirlwind, and wattanwtrfel a whirlpool. Among the many fprings near Skallholt, which art called znallen, two a.e very particular : one is on the weft fide the other on the eaft fide: the Icelanders boil their milk, and drefs their meat, by their affiftancej and they ufe them alfo for wafhing and fulling. They even calcine with them the dry bones of oxen or Iheep. The burning fountains have been taken notice of (p. i46.> by the au- thor of the Speculum Regale. Thefe Huers are not confined to the land. They rife in the very fea, and form fcalding fountains amidft the waves. Their fartheft diftance from' the land is unknown; but ths new vulcanic ifle, twelve miles off the point o^Retckenes, emitting fire and fmoke, proves that the fubterraneous fires and waters extend to that fpace; for thofe awful effeds arife from the united fury of thefe two elements*. The depth of water between this new creation and the Geir-fugl Skier, is forty-four fathoms ; ten leagues to the weft, two hundred and five : and the bottom compofed of black fandt J doubriefs no other than the Pumex arenaceus, the frequent evomi- tion of vulcanoes. How much paft human comprehenfion muft the powers have been, that could force up materials for an "and, even from the medium depth I have given ! and how deep beneath the bottom of the ocean muft have been the caufes which could fupply ftone, or pumice, or lava, to fill the fpacc which diis ifland occupies, many miles in circum- fcrence, and poffibly above a hundred fathoms in depth \ • See Mr. Whittburfi's Theory. «» Uard, par M. de Kerguelin, 69. t Sable noir comme lapsudre a canon. Vejage If ICELAND. If fome iflands fpring out of thefe ftas, others are fwallowcd by the force of earthquakes. Their foundations are undermined by the fury of the fubterraneous elements, which carries off the materials of their bafig. and difcharges it in lava, or different forms, through the vukanic^/r^r;//^! The earthquakes Ihatter the cruft on which they ftand, and they tumble into the great abyfs. Such was the fate of tlie nine ifie» of Goubeman, which lay about four leagues from SandaneJ^, between Patrixfiord and Cap Nort, all which fuddenly difappeared. Tiieir name* ftill exift in feveral mapsj but their place is only diftinguilhable by the fuperior depth of water in the fpot on which they ftood *. The number of inhabitants^in Iceland is at prefent computed not P.opl to exceed forty-two thoufand, as 1 have been aflured by Mr. Thorkdin, a moft amiable and learned native of the iOand in queftion, now on his tra^ vels in England. When Mr. Fon froil vifited Iceland in 1772, the inha- bitants were eftimated at fixty thoufand, but their numbers were rapidly decreafing. How rapid has been the progrefs towards the extinftion oi this unhappy people ! Confidering the ungenial furface of thio vaft iAahd, probably the number is equal to the means of fupport. Writers apolo- gize for the fewnefs of inhabitants, by attributing it to the almoft depo- pulation of the place by tht forte dhd, or black death, a peftilence which commenced in CafUy, or Cbinay in 1346, fpread over all ^/ta, and Africa, reached the fouth of Europe in 1347, and in 1348 fpread itfelf over Bril tain, Germany, and northern Europe, even to the extremity of the inha- bited north. The fmall-pox, and other epidemics, are mentioned as contributing to thin the idand. During the time of t' e plague, tradition relates, in terms moft graphically horrid, that tlie perfons who efcaped to the mountains, faw the whole low country covered with a thick pefti- ferous fog. Befides the dearth of food in this rude ifland, other caufes contribute to prevent the increafe of inhabitants. Neceflity forces LXVli PtiTlLENCE, royage au Nord, par M. tie Ktrgutlin, 65, 66. K 2 th» .I.XVIJI Dkmss, ICELAND. the meh to feek from the fea fubfiflence, denied by their niggardly land. Conftant wet, cold, and hard labor, abridge the days of thoufands; and that labor is increafed tenfold, to fupply the rapacity of their matters. In. credible as it may feem, a late king o( De»mark fold the whole iHand, and its inhabitants, to a company of merchants, for the annual rent of one thoufand pounds. This company enflave the poor natives; who are bound to fell their fiih, the ftaple of the ifland, at a low price to thefe mo- nopohzcrs -, who, dreading refiftance, even have taken from them the ufc of fire-arms ! Here is given a ibonger caufe of depopulation, perhaps, t n the others ; for Hyme» can have but faint votaries in the land from . icnce liberty is banifhed. But for thefe caufes, here ought to be found the genuine fpecies of the Norman race, unmixed with foreign blood -, as muft be the cafe with every place remote from the reft of the world. Here are to be fought the antient cuftoms and diet of their original ftock, which are now probably worn out in the land of their diftant anceftors. The luxury of food has fo little crept in among them, that their meat and drink in general is peculiar to themfelves; and much of the former com- pofed of herbs neglefted in other places. The drefs of the natives feems unchanged for a very confiderable time • that of the men is firaple, not unlike that of the Norwegian peafants ♦ • that of the females is graceful, elegant, and peculiar to them, and perhaps fome very old-fafhioned Norwegian lady. They ornament themfelves with fil- ver chains and rich plates of filver, beautifully wrought. On their head is a lofty flender drefs, not unlike a Phrygian bonnet. I cannot compare this to any antient European fafhion. I/aie^ of Franc,, queen to Edward 11 wore a head-drefs of an enormous height, of a (lender conic form + • but which, for want of the Bexure at top, gave place in elegance to the'tafte of the Icelandic fair. _Mr,rroil awakens our curofity about the Icelandic antiquities ; fpeaks ofcaftlcsand heathen temples, and burying-places, and upright ftones. • See O/aJitt, i. tab. iii. Pontoppidan, ii. tab. p. 272. ia Monarchit Fr. ii. Ub. xUL t Monlfcucon, Monum. de and ICELAND. Lxrx ORUrSDS. and mounts. Of the firft I am folicitous to gain fome further knowlege ^r poffibly they might direft to the origin of the round buildings in the Uehrtdes, Orknies, Schetland, and the north of Scotland*: others feem to me the various Scandinavian antiquities, admirably exemplified in Baron Dahl- herg's Suecia Antiqua et Modema. The fpecies of quadrupeds of this ifland are very few. Small horfes of Domh.t.c Q... a hardy kind j cows in great abundance, and moftly hornlefs, the flefh and hides of which are confiderable articles of exportation. Sheep are met with in great flocks in every farm , the wool is manufaftured at home, the meat falted, and, with the Ikins, much of it is fold to the Company, at the twenty-two ports allotted for the purpofes of traffic. It is remarkable, that the climate difpofes their horns to grow very large, and even to exceed the number of thofe of the fheep of other countries ; examples of three, four, and five, being extremely frequent. Goats and fwine are very fcarce • the firft, for want of Ihrubs to brouze, the laft through deficiency of their ufua food, and the fupply which the farm-yards of other countries afford. The dogs are fliarp-nofed, have Ihort and Iharp upright ears, bufhy ta.ls, and are full of hair. Here are domeftic cats; but numbers are grown wild, and multiply among the rocks, fo as to become noxious. The reader need not be reminded, that thefe, and every fpecies of domeftic ani- mals, were originally introduced into Iceland by the Norwegians. An attempt has been made to introduce the Rein Deer. Thofe which furvived ^v, voyage have bred frequently. There can be little doubt of their fucceeding, as Iceland has, in common with Lapland, moft of the * plants for their fummer food f, and abundance of the Rein Deer lichen for dieir winter provifion. Rats and Mice feem to have been involuntarily tranfported. Both the domeftic fpecies are found here ; and the white variety of the Moufe, called m the Icelandic, Skogar Mys, is common in the bulhes. I fufpeft that there is a native fpecies, allied, as Doftor Pallas imagines, to the CEco- *r.y.Hdrida. 'i Confir.Olaffen/^.z^^^lAman, Acad.i^^x^u Ratc^. NOMIC i LXX FoXEi. Bears. Ill m ICELAND. NOMic J for, like that, it lay, in a great magazine of berries by way of winter-ftores. This fpecies is particularly plentiful in the wood of //«/«. fe/s. In a country where berries are but thinly difperfed, thefe little animals are obliged to crofs rivers to make their diftant forages. In their return n-irii the booty to their magazines, they are obliged to repafs the ftream * of vvhichMr. 0/#« gives the following account :~« Tlie party, which confifts of from Hx to ten, fcleft a flat piece of dried cow-dung. on which they place the berries in a heap in the middle , then, by their united force, bnng It to the water's edge, and after launching it, embark, and place themfelvcs round the heap, with their heads joined over it, and their backs to the ;;'aterthe,r tails pendent in the ftrea.n, ferving the purpofe of rud- ders . When I confider the wonderful fagacity of Beavers, and think of the management of the Squirrel, which, in cafes of fimilar neceffity, make a piece of bark their boat, and tail their fail f, I no longer hefitate to credit the relation. and kUIed for the fake of a «™d, in order to prevent the havock they would make among the flieep. " The Polar Bear is often tranfported from Gu«,/a«d, on the iflands of .ce, but no fooner ,s its landing difcovered, than a general alarm is fpread, and purfu.t made till it is deftroyed. The /„W«-, are very in- trep.d .n their attack on this animal, and a Hngle man, armed only with afpear. frequently enters the lifts with this tremendous beaft, and never fe,ls of v,aory A perfon who lived near L^g^,_^,, the extr.^ northim pomt, where the Bears moft frequently land, is ftiU celebrated for hav^ flam not fewer than twenty in f.ngle combat. There is a reward for evJ flcin, which muft be delivered to the next magiftrate ^^ the'^M o?.rr,"'^' t '' ^""^'"^ f™"'' '" ^' '"^"'i. ""d finilhes uie Hit of the land-animals of the country. being blefled with domeftic animals, ha. lefs ufe of this race than olZ Ol.f„. a. related „ U„. ^ i,..^„_ ^.^_ ^^^.^^.^ ^_^^^^^_ ArSlic ICELAND. j^rlfic countries j yet they arc of confidcrable advantage. The fkins are ufed for cloathing ; a good one is equal in valu« to the (kin of a fheep, or the hide of a cow -, and the fat fupplies the lamps in the long nights with oil. The Common, during winter, is cxcefTively fat, and will yield fixty pounds. The Icelanders have two fpecies of native Seals : the Common, called by them Land-Salur, becaufe it keeps near the coaftj the other, the Great, or Vt-Salur. They are taken in nets placed in the creeks and narrow bays, which they pafs through to get on fhore. When it begins to grow dark the hunters make a fire, and fling into it the fhavings of horns, or any thing that fmells ftrongj this allures the Seals, who ftrikc into the nets, and are taken. At other times, a koder or lure is tied to a rope, and placed before the nets, to which the Seals, fuppofing it to be fome ftrange animal, will eagerly fwim, and ftrike into the nets, paying with their lives for their curiofity. This carries them fometimes fo far, that they will ftray to a confidcrable diftance inland, attraftcd by a candle, or the fire in a fmith's forge. If they are taken young, they are capable of being tamed : they will follow their matter, and come to him like a dog, when called by the name which is given them. The Icelanders have a ftrange fuperftition about thcfc animals : they believe they refemble the human fpecies nwre than any other, and that they are the ofl=spring of Vharaoh and his hoft, who were converted into Seals when they were over- whelmed in the Red Sea. Other fpecies of Seals are migratory. Among them is the Harp, or Vade-Selur, Thefe quit the feas of Iceland, in March, and fwim through the ftreights of Daviesy by fome unknown opening, to the fartheft north • bring forth their young, and return, by the north of Greenland, in May, extremely lean, to the north of Iceland-, continue their route, and return to that ifland about Cbriftmas, chiefly upon the drift-ice, on which they are either fhot or harpooned. The Hooded Seal, or Bladru Seal, is rarely taken here. The Walrus, or Roft.unger, is fometimes wafted here trom Greenland on the ice. LXXt SfiALd. It ixxtx BlRDi. ICELAND. It cannot be expcfted, that many of the feathered tribe fhould inhabit an iHand (o very fevere in its clioiate, and fo remote from the more fouth- trn continent and iflands. It is, like all other y/r the other mZ^ M'mry. They wh.fpered m h.s ear all they faw or heard. In the ear l.eft dawn, he fent them to fly round the world, and they returned be^I d.nner, fraught with intelligence. OJin thu, fang their L^Z = Huginn and M'ttinn, xay delight ! Speed thro* the world their daily flight : From their fond lord they both are flown. Perhaps eternally are gone. Tho* Huginn'i lofs I fliould deplore Yet Muninn'i would afflift me more •. R. W. add that Falcons were a.„ong the animals facrificed to OJm* tZ birds of the firft courage, and which delighted in blood ^' ^ The fea which furrounds Iceland is faid to be more fait than ufual in other countries. It leaves great faline incruftations on the rocks, which * BarihoUnus de Caufts tontmpta M,rtis, Sec. 420. 11. 132. ^ ^ t Mal/et's Northeyn Attiq. the ;ea. %\m IXXIV Bays frozen. Float 1 NO Ice. ICELAND. the natives fciape off and iife. I can, with no certainty, glvre the depth of the water, except where Mr. Kerguelin founded, ten leagues to the weft of Ceit'-fugl Skier, where he found it to be two hundred and five fathoms *. The equinodlial .ides rife as high as fixteen feet : the ordinary tides twelve f. The coafts almoft univerfally bold, thofe of the inlets except- ed, where there appears a fmall ftrand. The bays, efpecially thofe of the fouth, which lie under the influence of the cold of Greenland^ arc annually f* ozen over j that of Patrixjiord was fliut up even as late as the 14th of May ^ : but the fea near the coafts never feels the influence of the froft. It is in thofe places deep, and agi- tated by a moft turbulent motion. The dreaded ice is what floats from Greenland and Spitzbergen^ and often fills, during the whole fummer, the ftreight between the former and this ifland J!, and even extends along the northern coaft, covering the fea to a vaft diftance from land. It confifts of the two fpecies, the mountanous ice, called Fial-jakar i and the fmooih ice of inconfiderable thicknefs, ftyled Hellu-is. Thefe arrive generally in January, and go away in March. Sometimes it does not touch the land till Jprily when it fixes for a confiderable time, and brings to the Icelanders the moft tremendous evils i a multitude of polar bears, which fpread their ravages far and wide among the cattle j and a cold of incredible vio- lence, which chills the air for many miles, and even caufes the horfes and flieep to drop down dead §. To this is attributed the ftunted ftate of the miferable woods of the country j which caufe muft have exifted from the commencement of its iron age j for there feems to have been a period in which there had been confiderable wooded trafts %. The bottom of the fea is probably rocky : for it abounds with greater variety of /«« than Great Britain, which give fhelter to fifnes innumera- ble J a fource of wealth to the natives (were they permitted th. free ufe) as they are of food to diftant nations, the veflels of which annually refort here to fifh, but without any commerce with the Icelanders, which is ftridly • Voyc^s' «« ^ier du Nord, 69. + Horrelcw, loi. J Kerguelin, 3 1. a rrw7/,48,49. ^ Kerguelin, zo, ij^. fl See p. xlv. prohibited ICELAND. prohibited. In 1 767, three hundred Dutchy and above eighty Frtnch doggers, of about a hundred tons each, were employed, thofe of each nation under the orders and protedtion of a frigate. They keep from four to fix leagues from fhore, and fifh with hooks baited commonly with large muflels, in forty or Ffiy fathoms water. Others go to the diftance of fifteen leagues, and fifli in the depth of a hundred fathoms. The great capture is Cod. As foon as the filhermen take one, they cut ofF the head, v/afii, gut, and fait it in cafks, with either rock-falt or that of Lijbon. The fifliery com- mences in March, and ends in September. It begins at the point of Bre- derwkky and extends round the North Cape, by the ifle of Grim, to the point of Langenefs. The Englijh till of late years had entirely deferted this fiftiery, fince they were in poflefllon of Newfoundland, It had been, in very early times, the refort of our veflels, as is evident by the proclamation of Henry V. in order to give fatisfaftion for the ill conduft of fome of his fubjefts, in 141 5, on the coafts of this ifland *, in which he forbids them to refort to the ifles o( Denmark and Norway, efpecially to Iceland, otherwife than had been antiently cuftomary. In iA2^, the Englijh parlement enforced this order, by making it penal for any of our fubjefts to trade in the Danijh ports, except in North Earn or Bergen, At length, the Banijh monarch wifely rcfolved to rcferve the benefits of the fifheries to his own fubjerovement, 4, 5 . f t Yarranton'i England!' t Im- they txxvm FLANDERS AND HOLLAND. Tides. Antient Flan- ders AND HoL- LAM). 'ir I! !,' they may be to mariners, are the fecurity oi Holland, in particular, from na« val invafions. The fpring-tides at Calais rife twenty feet j at the pier head at Dover y to twenty-five J the caufe of the variation is fuppofed, by Mr. Cowley y to be the different diftances of the two piers from low-water mark, the firft being half a mile, the laft only a hundred yards -, at OJiend it rifes to eighteen j at Flujhing, fixteen and a half i at Helvoetfluys and the Texel, twelve j and on the coafts QiHolJiein and Jutland^ where the fea expands to a more confi- derable breadth, the tides grow more irregular, and weaken both in height and ftrength j at the Elbe they do not exceed feven or eight feet j on the coaft o^ Jutland oxAy two or three ; a fingular phenomenon, ^ they are fo greatly higher on the correfpondent coafts oi England. The flood on the weft coaft oi Holland kt^ to the northward, contrary to the courfe of the tides on the eaft coafts of England and Scotland. Flanders and Brabant formed part of the Gallia Belgica of Cefar, and Holland the Batavorum In/ula. The rivers are the ScaldiSy Mo/a, and Rhe- nusy the modern Scheld, Maeje, and Rhine. The two firft probably do not vary greatly in their difcharge into the fea : the laft has experienced a moft confiderable change. The right branch of this river runs, for fome fpace, as it did in antient times, when it formed the lake Flevo, then refumed the form of a ftream, and difcharged itfelf into the fea at a place ftill called the Flie-ftroom, between the ifles oiFlie-landt and Schelling, at the moutli of the Zuyder-zee. Long after that period the country was dry, firm, and well inhabited ; a mighty inundation totally changed the face of it, and en- larged the Flevo lacus into the prefent Zuyder-zee, and broke the coaft into the chain of iflands which now front tht Ihore, even as far as the mouth of the Wefer. The Butch hiftorians date this accident in 1421 : it feems to have been the operation of a length of time j for the paflage through the Texel was forced open in 1400, and gave rife to the profperity oi Amfter- dam *. This country was firft peopled by the Catti, a German nation j thefe were thinned almoft to extirpation by the fwarms from the great * Anderfon\ Diil. i. 225. northern FLANDERS AND HOLLAND. northern hive, in their expeditions by land to other parts of Europe. For a \tty long fpace Flanders and Holland were a feat of banditti : the vaft foreft of Ardennes gave prote^ion to them in one country j the morafles fccured them in the other. Government at length took place, in Holland under its counts, in Flanders under its forefters. Thefe provinces fell at laft under the dominion of the dukes of Burgundy j from them to the houfe of Auftria and crown of Spain. The revolutions from that are well known. Holland received its fecond population from Germany^ happily (for a country whofe exiftence depends on induftry) a moft induftrious race. The Rhine annually brings down multitudes of people, to repair the lofs of men occafioned by diftant voyages, and by the moft unwholefome colo- nies in the Eaft and fVeft Indies. Holland is, from its climate, unfavor- able to the encreafe of mankind : it cannot depend on itfelf for the repa- ration of the lofs of people, but muft look elfewhere for fupplies. Flanders has many of th^ fame fpecies of animals with Great Britain; but, from the nature of its coaft, wants moft of the water-fowl, a few cloven-footed birds excepted, which breed on fandy Ihores. Holland has ftill fewer quadrupeds and birds. Of the quadrupeds which we want, are a few Beavers in the Rhine and Mae/e. The Wolf is common in Flanders, and is found in the parts of Holland bordering on Germany. Both countries have a few birds which never appear in Britain, except forced by the violence of weather or purfuit of fome bird of prey. The antient Germany next fucceeds. Holland was a fort of neutral coun- try, a retreat of the German Catti, and not Germany itfelf. As at prefenr, the bordering parts were divided into petty ftates. The rivers which de- rive their origin far up the country, are the Ems, the IVe/er, and the Elb, the antient Amifius, Vijurgis, and Albis. The coaft of Embden is noted for the place on which commences the great turbot fifliery, which fupplies the market of our capital. It begins very early in April. The filh come to the ground from the north, and move progreffively fouthward. Towards the latter end of April the filher- men lay their long lines on the coaft of Holland-, and towards the latter end oiMay they go on the Flemijh coafts, and continue till the latter end of LXXIX Animals. Turbot Fishe- ry. LXXX' •ili HOLLAND. of ^«^«/; about which time the turbots fpread, and are caught almoft half channel over. They extend even to our northern coafts, but not in numbers fufficient to encourage a ftationary filhery. The Dutch dravf trom us large Pjms, honorably indeed j but the produce of their filheries IS in the hands of a few of our falefmen, who by help of what are called ftcrel>oats which lie in the fait water off Gravejend, bring up to the Lon- ^.« market juft the quantity of the fifh which they judge will.be wanted ; and by thofe means keep up the price, to the great injury of both rich and poor : the reft is fuffered to be fpoiled , and what might fill the hungry is flung over-board by the cruel monopolizers. Moft of the plaife fold in the nrietropohs are alfo bought from the Dutch. It is cuftomary for our people to purdiafe thefe fifh at fea : but the Butch themfelves brirg the turbots to Gravejend. It is computed that they annually import about eighty thoufand in the feafon, which continues from Afril to Auguft The fifli With which the market is fupplied from November to March, is con- veyed by land from Bath and BriftoL This may be hereafter treated of. The Dutch employ in their fifhery about fifty veflels, at an average bur- den of fixty tons. Had the act for taxing the tonnage of thefe veflels pa t. It would have amounted to an erxlufion. There is great reafon to believe that our own coafts would not have furniflied turbots fufficient to anfwer the demands of the luxury of the times , the markets would have been worfe fupplied , and the power of monopolizing increafed manyfold, by leffening the number of fiftiermen. Thofe of Great Britain have ever^ fea, in which they may by the law of nations fifh, open to them. The proper bait may be purchafed at home , and, provided we have fufficient quantity of fifh on our coafts, and exert ourfelves with the ceconomy and induftry of the Dutch, we need never fear being rivalled by them The bait for thefe fifh is the lefTer lamprey of the Br. Zool. vol. iii N 2 J tht petromyzon fluviatilis of Linn^us. This is a fmall fifh vet of great importance, it is taken in amazing quantities between Batter/ea Reach ^ndraplo^ mills, a fpace of about fifty miles, and fold to the Dutch or the cod and other fifheries : 400,000 have been fold in one feafon for the purpofe. The price has been forty fhiliings the thoufand , this year the I HOLLAND. the Butch have given three pounds, and the Englijh from five to eight pounds i the former having prudently contrafted for three years at a cer- tarn price Formerly the names has furnilhed from a million to twelve hundred thoufand annually. An attempt was lately made in parlement o flmg the turbot fifhery entirely into Britijh hands, by laying ten fhil- Imgs a ton duty on every foreign veflel importing turbot into Great Bri- tatn : but the plan was found to be derived from felfifh motives, and even on a national injuftice; the far greater quantity of turbots being difco- vered to be taken on the coafts of Hol/and and Flanders, from whence the Dutch are fuppofed to import annually to the L.«J.;.. markets about 80,000 fifh. Oppofite to the mouth of the eftuary of the fFe/er and the m, is the remnant of the In/ula, Cajlum Nemus, celebrated by ^adtus, with his ufual elegance, for the worfliip of Herthum, or Mother Earth, by the neighboring nations. EJi in injula cceani, Castum Nemus, dicatum in eo vebtculum vejie conte6ium. attingere uni facerdoti toncejfum. Is ade/Te penetrah Dbam intelligit, veSfamque bubus feminis multa cum veneratL profequttur, L^ti tunc dies, fefta loca. quacumque adventu hofpitioque digna- tur. Non bella ineunt. non arma fumunt. claujum omne ferrum. Pax et qutes tunc tanttim nota. tunc tantkm amata. donee idem Jacerdos Jatiatam con- verjattone mortalium Beam templo reddat. Mo^ vehiculum et veftes. et ft credere velts. numen ipfum, fecreto lacu abluitur, Servi miniftrant. Ls fiattm tdern lacus haurit. Arcanus hinc terror. Jan5iaque ignorantia. quid fit illud quod tantum perituri vident \ The worfhip was continued very Ion., after that period, and the ifland was diftinguifhed by the name of FcC land. Farna. Injula Sacra, or He^lgeland, or the Holy ijle. from the facri fices made there to the goddefs Fojia, or Fofeta. the fame with Vefta. Her- thum. or the Earth. She was called by the Scandinavians. Goya The v,(5lims to her were precipitated into a pit : if they funk at once, the facri- fice was thought to be accepted : the reverfe if they fwam any time on the furfacef. This ifland was vifited, out of refped to the goddefs by Lxxxr * De Mor. German, c. 40. t Ma/fet's North. Antiq. Tratijl. {. 136. Insvla Sacra, OJt. Hgilgelan*. M people LXXXII JUTLAND. I > ! I JUTLAKS. CiMBRIAR BMILVGF. people of high rank. Radbotbus I. king of the FrifianSy \ras here in 690, when Winbertusj and other Chriftian miflionaries, landed, overthrew the temples, and put an end to the pagan rites *. It had been an ifland of great extent; but by different inundations, between the years 800 and 1649, was reduced to its prefent contemptible fize f. The great ifland of ' Nordftrandt (one of the Injula Saxonum) not remote from this, in 1634 was ieduced, by the fame caufe, from twenty parilhes to one : fifty thou- fand head of cattle, and between fix and feven thoufand fouls, were fwept away. Such are the calamities to which thefe low countries are liable. Jutland and Holfteitiy the antient Cimbrica Cherfonefus J, and Cartris §, terminating in the low point called the Skagen^ or ScaiVy ftretches out in form of a peninfula, bounded by the North fea and the Kattegattey :he oblique approach into the Baltic, It is a very narrow trad, and only the refting- place of birds in their way from Scandinaviay and the farther north, the refidence of numerous fpecies. The rich marfhes, in a climate mild from its fituation between two feas, afford numbers of wholefome plants, the food of a remarkably fine breed of cattle. Befides the home con- fumption, thefe provinces fend out annually thirty-two thoufand Jiead, The nobility do not think it beneath them to prefide over the dairy : and their number of cows is princely. M. De Rantzau had not fewer than fix hundred milch cows. What the extent of this country might have been in very early times is unknown : it muft have been prodigioufly great, otherwife it never could have poured out that amazing number of people it did, in their eruption into Francty when they were defeated by Mariusy in loi before Christ. Their army was computed to confift of three hundred thoufand fighting men (including the teutoni) befides women and children. About feven years before, they had fuffered a great calamity fi-om an inundation of the fea, which had deftroyed great part of their country j and compelled the furvivors, then crouded in the narrow Cherjonejusy to apply to the • Emmii Hift. Rer. Friz. 129. ed Franck. f Bufihing Geogr. i. 157. 167. J Pfelm. lib. ii. c. 11. § />//«. Nat. Hift. lib, iv. c. 13. Romans JUTLAND. LXXXIIt Romans for other lands. Tacitus fpcaks of the reftiges of this once mighty people, in the lines, vifible in his time, on each Ih re. I prefume that the inundations to which this coaft is fubjed from the fea, hath utterly deftroy d every trace of them. The charts plainly point out their over- whelmed territories in Juts-rif, and the neighboring fand- banks. The firft might have been the continuation of land from the end of Jutland, beginning at the Skaiv, and running out into the North fea in form of a fcythe, not very remote from land, and terminating a little fouth of Bergen in Norway y leaving between its banks and that kingdom a deeper channel into the Baltic. The Cimbrium Promontorium is believed by the Swedijh antiquaiies ♦ to Cimbrium Pro- be the promontory Kullen in Schonen, a little to the north-weft of the montoihum. Sound. Kullen, and the point of Toreko to the north of it, forms a fine and deep bay quite in the neighborhood of the Sinus Codanus. The Kattegatte lies between part of Jutland and the coaft of Sweden : , the laft covered with ifles innumerable. It is almoft clofed at the extre- mity, by the low Danijh iflands of Seland and Fitnen, which had in old times been (with Sweden) the feat of the Suiones. Between the firft and The Sou no. the coaft of Sweden, is the famous Sound, the paflage tributary to the Danes by thoufands of ftiips. The narroweft part is three miles broad, between Helfinour in Denmark and Helfinghourg in Sweden : on the Danijh fide is ten or eleven fathom of water, on the Sjoedijh twenty. The re- venue it brings to the Danes is a hundred thoufand pounds annually. The ifle of Seland is fandy and low : the oppofite coafts high and rocky. Co- pnhagen, a city of eighty thoufand inhabitants, ftands in that ifland on an edge of the Sound. Many of the ftreets have canals, which bring mer- chandife to the very doors j and the city is divided by the harbour into two unequal parts. Thefe ifles were of old called Codonania f, and gave to the Kattegatte the name of Sinus Codanus. The proper Baltic feems to have been the Mare Suevicum of the antients ; and the fartheft part, the • Mr. Retxius. See this bay in Lous^k Kaart over Kattegattet. c, 3. 8. M 2 f Mela, lib.lii. Mare LXXXIV I THE BALTIC. Mare Sarmaticum, and part of the Mare Scytbicum. As a nauralift I inuft mcnticn, that when Linn^us fpeaks of the Mare Occidentale. 'he intends the /r^//.^^,/,. Its greatett depth is thirty-five fathoms. It de, creafes as ,t approaches the Sound, which begins with f.xteen fathoms and near C<^enhagen ihallows to even four, but has a much greater deoth ^^ on the Swedijh fide. ^ P^" ^l^ll tluir" -[j!" ^''"^'' fle"* "nd^r the command of Germamcus, failed, according toPl,„y, round Germany, and even doubled the CimHcum PromontoriuZ and arrived at the iHands which fill the bottom of the Kattegatte- • ei- ther by obfervation or information, the Romans were acquainted with twenty-three. One they called Glejfaria, from its amber, a foffil abund- ant to this day on part of the fouth fide of the Baltic. A Roman knieht was employed by Nero', mafter of the gladiators, to colled, in thefe parts, that precious produftion, by which he came perfedtly acquainted with this country f. I cannot fuppofe that the Romans ever fettled in any part of the neighborhood, yet there was fome commerce between them, either direft, or by the intervention of merchants. Many filver coins have been found at Khikke, in Scbonen in Sweden, of Hadrian An. tonmus Pius, Commodus, and ^Ibinust. Among the idands, Pliny makes . Norway one, under the name of Scandinavia incomperu magnitudinis, and Baltta another, tmrnenj^ magnitudinis, probably part of the fame, and which might give name to the Sounds called the Belts, and to the Baltic itfelf The geographer Mela had the jufteft information of this great water* which he defcribes with great elegance. « Hac re mare (Codanus sinus) ^ quodgremto mare accipitur, nunquam lat^e patet,nec usqpam mari simile verum aquts paffim interfluentibus ac Jape tran/greffis vagum at que diffufum , ^r\ '^"^^JP'^l^t^r, qua littora attingit, ripis contentum injularum non longe dtftanttbus, et ubique pane tantundem, it anguftum et par freto • curvanjque Je Jubiti, longo fupercilio inflexum ejl.' The different nations which inhabited its coafts fhall hereafjpr be mentioned. I would, like Mela, prefer giving to the Baltic the name of a gulph rather than a fea; for it wants many requifites to merit that title. It t Lib.xxxvii. c. 3. X Forfenius de Monum, The Baltic a «ULPH. • Plin. lib.ii. c.67. lib. iv.c. 13. Kiviktufe, p. 27. wants THE BALTIC. txxxv wants depth, having in no one place more than a hundred and ten fa- D.pth. thonrjs. From the eaftern mouth of the Sound to the ide of Bornholm it has from nine to thirty : from thence to Stockholm, from fifteen to fifty • and a httle fouth of Lwdo, fixty. It has in this courfe many fand-banks! but all in great depths of water. Between y^lands Haff, amidft the great archipelago, the Aland ifles, and the ifle of OJel in the gulph of Riga, the depths are various., from fixty to a hundred and ten •. Many frefh-water lakes exceed it in that refpedl. It wants tides, therefore experiences no difference of height, except N. t,oe.. when the winds are violent. At fuch times there is a current in and out of the Baltic, according to the points they blow from i which forces the water through the Sound with the velocity of two or three Danijh miles in the hour. When the wind blows violently from the German fea, the water rifes in the feveral Baltic harbours, and gives thofe in the weftern part a temporary faltnefs : othcrwife the Baltic lofes that other property Not salt. of a fea, by reafon of the want of tide, and the quantity of vaft rivers it receives, which fweeten it fo much as to render it, in many places, fit for domefticufes. In all the Baltic, Linnaus enumerates but three /«« + plants of the fea: in the gulph of Bothnia, which is beyond the reach of fait water, not one %. In the prefent century it has been proved by experiment, that the Bal- tic has an under current like the Streights of Gibraltar. An able fea- man belonging to one of our frigates went in a pinnace to the middle of the channel, and was violently hurried away by a current. Soon after he funk a bucket, with a large ball in it, to a certain depth, which gave a check to the boat's motion, and finking it ftill lower and lower, was dri- ven a-head to windward againft the upper dream, which had been forced through the Sound by fome ftrong gale. The current aloft was not above four or five feet deep ; and the lower the bucket was funk, they found the under current the ftronger ||. The fewnefs of fpecies of fifh in the Baltic is another difference be- Few specie. OF • Ruffian and other charts. Miftorj Gibraltar, i. 233. FISH. t IPlora Suec. % Flora Lafp. II James's tween LXXXVf "t THE BALTIC. twcen it and ft genuine Tea. I can enumerate only twenty • which are found in this vaft extent of water : and may add one cetaceous fifh, the Porpcflc. No others venture beyond the narrow ftreights which divide the Ba//,c from the Kattegatte, yet the great Swedijh Fauniji reckons cjghty.feven belonging to his country, which is walhed only by thofe two waters. Let me mention the Herring as a fpecies which has from very early times enriched the neighboring cities. There was, between the years 1 169 and i2oj, a vaft refort of Chriftian fhips to fifh off the irte of Rugen, the feat of the antient Rugii, infomuch that the Banes cloathed themfelves with fcarlet and purple, and fine linen. They frequented the Uvonian and Courland fhores in equal multitudes till die year 131 j, when they drew near thofe of Benmark f. They de- ferted the 5«//,V for fome centuries, but in 1752 began again to nVe their appearance there on the Swedijh coaft, and are caught among the rocks and iJles (none at fea) from Gottmhourg to Stromftad, a fpace of thirty-five leagues, and none further north or fouth. In the beginning of the fifhery they appeared about the end of July, or the beginning oi Au- luft but have gradually altered their feafon, and of late are feldom feen before the beginning of iWz,,«,^^.. neither are they fo fat as when thev appeared early. In 178,, 136,649 barrels of falted herrings were ex- ported to different ports of the Baltic and Eaft fca, the Madeiras and Weft.Indtes and Frmce and the Mediterranean, befides 14,542 barrels of herring oil : but the oil is of a very inferior quality to that of whale or liver oil Fomierly the Swedes fent great quantities of herrings to Cork. from whence they were refhipped to the Weft-Indies %. This part of the trade has entirely ceafed. Poffibly thefe new fifheries may have operated • Porpeffe, Sea Lamprey, Sturgeon, Launce, Sword- fifli. Striated Cod-fifh, Viviparous Blenny, Beardlefs Ophidioii, Lump, Hornfimpa, Turbot, Flounder, Salmon, Gar-fidi, Smelt, Herring, Sprat, Little Pipe-filh, •'-•> orter P. h ind P. t Anderfon\ Dift. Commerce, i. 102. 152. t Third Report of the Committee on the Britijh Fifheries, p. 3 14. * ■with THE BALTIC. Lxxxvir with other caiifcs to leflen thofe of thek eat Britain : but I am informed tfi it fifh begin already to appear in far lefs quantities than le capricious ufual. The Homjimpa, or Cottits Quadricornis, Faun. Suec. N* 321, and the SvNGNATHus TvPHLE, or Blind Pipe-fifti, N* 377, are unknown in the Briiijh feas : the firft feems peculiar to the gulph of Bothnia, and is a fifh of fingular figure, with four flat hornlike proceflTes on the head *. The extent of the Baltic in length is very great. From Ueljingory •where it properly begins, to Cronjiadty at the end of the gulph of Finland^ is eight hundred and ten Englijh fea mile: Its breadth, between Salt- ivic, in Smalandy and the oppofite fhore, two hundred and thirty-feven. The gulph of Bothnia, which runs due north, forms an extent almoft °^ equal to the firft, bcingi from Tomea in Lapland, to the (hore near Dant- zicj not lefs than feven hundred and feventy-eight : an amazing fpac c, to be fo ill ftockcd with filhy inhabitants. From the ifle of Rugen, the courfe of the Baltic is ftrait and open, ex- cept where interrupted by the famous ifle of Gottland, the place of ren- dezvous from whence the Goths made their naval excurfions. In 811, on this ifland, was founded the famous town of Wijbuy f , the great em- porium of the north : it was, for ages, the refort of every Chriftian na- tion. The Englijh long traded here, before they ventured on the diftant voyage of the Mediterranean* It became an independent city, and made its maritime laws the ftandard of all Europe to the north of Spain. In 136 1, Waldemar III. of Denmark, attacked, ravaged, and plundered it of immenfe riches j all which periftied at fea after they were fliipped J. Its prefent inhabitants are hufbandmen and fifliermen, fecure from the cala- mities of war by the happy want of exuberant wealth. Beyond Stockholm the Baltic divides into the gulphs of Bothnia and Finland : the firft runs deeply to the north, and the country is compofed cniefly of granite rock, or ftrewed over with detached mafles of the fame. Its greateft breadth is between Gefle, in Gaftrickland, and Abo, in Finland, where it meafures a hundred and fixty-two miles. The left breadth is • Mtt/. Fr. Adolph. J. 70. tab. xxxii. fig. 4. f Dalhberg, book iii. tab. 263. J HiJi.Abregi deNord. i. 206. Length anb BREAD T HOP THg Baltic : THE Gulph OP Bothnia. Isle op Gott- LANP. at ixxxvnr Xapland, Biros. I- A P L A N D. rf«. to the ufual landmg-place, about forty E.«gUfi mite below Zo where :t .s only twelve Wj^ or feventy-two Engijh mite broL Th^ depth m one place is fuperior to that of the &te. Wing been I'ved b! founding to be five hundred and eighty Engiifl, feet • ^ ^ vidtd ll!',r'™ V *' ^'P*" "^ '^"*''' '^ ■^^'■^''^. - country di- vided by the nverr».»«, which runs navigable far up between a con t mued mountanous foreft. It is fuppofed to have bee^ peoTd in T eleventh cen.u.y by the Flnni: a fad not eafy to be adS for t £:.ran^dtt:^i::' V::-^^^?::^^;^ ;, „r, "f/*"'^ "«from the Lafb^J^n, who pofleffed their countj long before. In the ninth century, the hero if.^J flew its kZ or leader in battle J : at that period it was in a favaee Le IZ ■ s:: "T"" "' '""""• "" ■^"' *" '^x.": ded -r h':: Jcingdom, and in vain attempted its converfion & ^r. i nes have elapfed frnce it haf Hncerely rr^/.e^.Xr I? cr;: "ufucceld:frf",h "'''''' ""™'"" ^"' ^™'-"- h"^ -^ they have uni^d with^^W: a r^e : ttrlTr ' '"" the Houfe of Peafants in d,e national diet II R ,r H, r ''P'"'^"""*'" '» themoft cultivated of this diftinft 1 "^ J: ifef thTn" 1 ""'" ^e „.,, dome.icated it from its wild .^ Z^^ ^i^ orit:;=i:ir:rm:z^^^^^^^^^^^^ of myriads of water-fowl, wWch refort here in luler ^ t^Z • Prof. R„.iuj otL..J. t Pi, rr. Mr. vli. pa,, i,. p. ., t Hijl. Abrege du from 3 W E D N. from the difturbance of mankind. Linn^us, the great explorer of rhefe deferts, my venerated ejcample ! mentions them as exceeding in numbers the armies of Xerxes ; re-migrating, with him, in autumn, eight entire days and nights, to feek fuftenance on the fhores and waters of more fa- vorable climates *. Their lakes and rivers abound in filh ; yet the number of fpecies are few. Thefe are the Ten-fpined Stickle-back, Br. Zool. iii. N» 130; Salmon, N" 143, in great abundance, which force their way to the ver^ heads of the furious rivers cf Cornea and Kiemi, to depofit their fpawn ; Char, N" 149, are found in the lakes in great abundance ; and Graylings, N' 150, in the rivers ; Gwiniads, N" 152, are taken of eight or ten pounds weight; Pikes, N» 153, fometimcs eight feet long; and Perch, N" 124, of an incredible fize f j and the Salmo Albula, Faun. Suec. N° 3S3> clofes the lift of thofe of the Lapland lakes and rivers. But Sweden exceeds us in the number of freih-water fifties. Befides thofe It has in common with Great Britain, it has. The lejfer Lamprey, the Pride Lamprey, Eel, Barhot, Bull-head, Ruffe, three-fpined and ten-fpined Sticklebacks, Loche, and the Cobitis tania lately difcovered in the Trent ; the Trout, Char, Grayling, Gwiniad, Pike (this fifli has been taken in the fFetter lake of the weight of fixty pounds : there is a tradition that once there was one taken of the weight of a hun- dred and thirty pounds) ; Carp, Tench, Bream, Crucian, Rud, Roach, and the Bleak, all which are defcribed in the Britijh Zoology. Sweden has befides, The Sterlet, or acipenfer ruthenus, Bloche iii. 88. tranfported from the Volga into the lake M<^ler, by Frederic I j as was the Loche, Cobitis Bar- batula, out of Germany, by the fame monarch. BlenniKs raninus or Ahlkufa. Faun. Suec. N" 316. Perca Lucio-perca or Gioes, Bloche ii. 58. Cobitis fojjilis, Bloche i. ^73. Silurus giants, Bloche i. 194, or Mahl, the greatcft of frelh-watcr nihes. LKXXIX • Amoen. Acad, iv. 570. //. lap, 273. N t Schfjer't Lapland, Fish. SfdHf WL S W E E N, Aland Isles. Salmo ntmha. S. Albuhy or Sttcklesja^ Bloche i. 141, Q/prinusJfpius, or J/py-RLOcHZu^i, : C. Idusy or / o Aape : for the laft polilh. Heaven formed another C.r„,.,,,, The adm ra.,on oE.je the blefling of an empi. which forms at 1 ft one de venth c: the globe, extending from the nonhern point of AiJzll „" U>e frozen latitude of near 78, to the influx of the Terei \Z\tc2 fca, m the warm latitude of about « and a half- or ,^ I f'"" eft breadth, from the coaft of the Fro"' ocean,' at '. ^t^Ll ^.^h'" count^of the r/r«, ,at. 73, to the mou.h ouC: ZaZ^TlZ. of Ochotz, .n at. J4. Its length is ftill more prodigious, from7«^ turg as far as the ^iatk fide of the ftreights of slins ■^' • Ptolemy. A fine RUSSIAN EMPIRE. A fine equeftrian ftatuc of this great legiHator o^ Ruffla has lately been ereded in Peterjburg to his memory. He is reprefented on a fpirited courfer afcendin- a fteep rock, in the aftion of beftowing his blefling on his people. The pedeftal is a wonderful curiofity : a ftupendous mafs of moor-ftone or grcnite, found hjf buried in a morafs eight miles from the city. It weighed fifteen hundred tons : the morafs was drained, and it was brought through a road cut through a foreft, with forty men on the top, four miles to the water-fide, then it was conveyed in a veffel built on purpofe down the Neva to the place of its deftination *. In the following work, I have, by the afTiftance of that celebrated na- turalift Doftor Pallas, given a defcription of the Quadrupeds and Birds of this vaft empire, as far as was compatible wirh my plan, which was con- fined between the higheft known latitudes of the northern hemifphere, and that of 60. The remainder will be comprehended in the great defign formed by the Imperial Academy, and executed by profeffors whofe glory It IS to prove themfel/es worthy of their illuftrious and munificent pa- tronefs, under whofe aufpices they have pervaded every part of her exten- five dominions in fearch of ufeful knowlege. To Peterjburg, this corner of the empire, is brought, as to a vaft em- porium, the commerce of the moft diftant parts j and from hence are cir- culated the European articles to fupply even the remote China. The place of traffic is on the Chinefe borders, at Kjackta, a town without women j for none are allowed to attend their hufbands. By thi:: route the furs of Hud- fon's-Bay find their way to warm the luxurious inhabitants of Pekin, the animals of the neighboring Tartary and Sibiria being inadequate to the increafed demand. The want of a maritime intercourfe is no obftacle to this enterprifing nation to the carrying on a trade with India. Since the beginning of the prefent century, about an hundred and fifty or two hundred Indian merchants, from the province o( Mult an, refide at ^Jira^an, and carry on a great trade in precious flones i they live in a large " ftone caravanferni. As they die away, or incline to return home, a fup- XCII> HIS Status. Mr. Coxe. ply XCIV Sarmat^. Eningia. FINLAND. ply is fcnt from India by their chief, felefted from among their young immarried relations. As they have no females from their own country they keep, during their refidence at JJiracan, Urtarian women, but the contraft IS only during that time. TJiey are a fine race of men, and are highly efteemed for the integrity of their dealings. Thefe fupport the moft important trade oi Mracan, by carrying through Afirabad to the in- land parts of the Mogol empire. I ftray a little from my plan ; but it may be excufed on account of die novelty of the relation, and becaufe it points out a more fouthern inland road than was known in the middle ages, when the merchants went by the way of Bochara and Samarcand to the northern cities otlndiay Candahar and Cabul. In my return to the German fea, let me review the antient inhabitants of the Baltic. The wandering SarmaU, of Scythian defcent, poflefled all the country from lake Onega to the Vijiula j and part of the vaft Her^ cyntan foreft, famous of old for its wild beads, occupied moft of this country Bisons with their great manes : Uri with their enormous horns, which the natives bound with filver and quaffed at their great feafts • the Alces, or Elk, then fabled to have jointlefs legs : and Wild Horfes were among the quadrupeds of this trad *. I fmile at tlie defcription of cer- tain birds of the Hercynian wood, whofe feathers fhone in the ni^ht, and often proved the guide to the bewildered traveller f. The refplendent plumage of the Strix Nvctea, the Snowy Owl, might probably have rekttn '^' '^^ ^'"'^^''"^ wanderer, and given rife to the ftrange ^ Eningia was the oppofite Ihore, and the fame with the modern Finland. inhabited by people of amazing favagenefs and fqualid poverty, who lived by the chace, headed their arrows with bones, cloathed themfelves with fkins, lay on the ground, and had no other Ihelter for their infants Jan a few interwoven boughs J. They were then, what the people of Terra del Fuego are now. At this very time (Mr. Oedman informs me) * Ce/arBell. Call. lib. iv. PUn. lib. viii. c. 15. ^' ^7' X 'J'acitus de Mar. Germ, t Solintis, c. 32. Plin. x. there FINLAND. there are above twenty diftrifls, in the fpace between Swedijh and Ruffian Finland, which own no mafter, live almoft in a ftate of nature, and in the moft deplorable manner torn by family quarrels, from the lawlefs ftate in which they live. There is no certainty refpefting the Oona; j iflanders, who fed, as many do at prefent, on the eggs of wild fowl and on oats j but moft probably they were the natives of the ifles o( Aland y and the ad- jacent archipelago ; for Mela exprefsly places them oppofite to the Sar- maU *. We may add, that the Hippopoda and Panoti might be the inha- bitants of the northern part of the Boihnian gulph j the firft fabled to have hoofs like horfes, the laft ears fo large as ^o ferve inftead of cloaks. The Hippopoda were certainly the fame fort of people as the Finni Lignipedes of Olaus, and the Skride Finnas of Ohthere. They wore fnow-lhoes, which might fairly give the idea of their being, like horfes, hoofed and Ihod. As to the Panotiy they baffle my imagination. The Bothnian and Finland gulphs feem to me to have been, in the time of Tacitusy part of his Mare pigrum ac immotuniy which, with part of the Hyperborean ocean, really infulated Scandinaviay and which he places be- yond the Suionesy or modern Sweden. Pliny gives, I fuppofe from the relation oi Britijh or other voyagers, to part of this fea, probably the moft northern, the title o( Morimaru/ay or Dead Sea, and Cranium. The learned Forjlery with great ingenuity, derives the word from the Gaelic and Celtic language f j the firft, from the PFel/h, mory fea, and marWy dead j the other from the Iri/by muir-croinny the coagulated, /. t. congealed Jea. Ta- citus adds to his account, that it was believed to encircle the whole globe, and that the laft light of the fetting fun continued fo very vivid as to ob- fcure the ftars themfelves. There is not a fingle circumftance of exaggeration in all this : every winter the gulph is frozen, and becomes motionlefs. Many inftances may be adduced even of the Baltic itfelf being frozen from Ihore to Ihore %- The ftars are frequently loft in the amazing fplendor and various colors of the aurora borealis. The HillevioneSy an antient people of Swedeny ftyled Scandinavia alterum orbem terrarum, and their defcendants, • Mtla, lib. iii. c. viii. t Forfitr's Ob/. 96. X Fcrfiir't Ohf. 80. XCV Oona. HippopoD.qf, ... long XCVl ANTIENT STREIGHTS. Antibnt Streights be- tween White Sea. •:■ 1 lifl long carolled the jun6bion of the Bothman gulph with the northern ocean, traditionally rehearfed in old Swedijh fongs. 'Tacitus ufes the two laft words to exprefs the world furrounded by this fea. In the days of the geographer Mela^ there certainly was a ftrong tide in this upper part of the Baltic ; for, fpeaking of t)»e iflands off Finland, he fays, " Quae Sar- " matis adverfa funt, ob alternos acceffus recurfufque pelagi, et quod fpa- " tia queis diftant, modo operiuntur undis, modo nuda funt j alias infulac " videntur, alias una ct continens terra." With propriety, therefore, in another place, does he compare it to a ftreight, parfreto, notwithftanding he was ignorant of its other entrance. Doftor Pallas moft juftly afrribes the formation of not only the Baltic, but its former communication with the PFhite Sea, to the effefts of a deluge. The whole intermediate country is a proof i the fbunJation being what is called the old rock, and that co- vered with variety of matter j fuch as beds of pebble and gravel, and frag- vheBaltjc AND ments of granite, torn from the great mafs. Parts of the channel which formed the infulation of Scandinavia, are the chain of lakes, from that of Ladoga to the fVhite Sea, fuch as Onega, and others, often con- nedled by rivers, and lying in a low country, filled with the proofs above- mentioned. The lakes Sig, Onda, and Wigo, form fucceflive links from the lake Onega to the White Sea -, and the lake Saima almoft cuts Finland thorough from north to fouth, beginning not far from lake Onda, and extending almoft to Wyhourg on the gulph of Finland, a fpace of forty Swedijh or two hundred and fixty Englijh miles. Thefe were part of the bed of the ftreights through which the tide poured itfelf from the Hypt"^- borean ocean, and covered, at its flux, the iflands defcribed by Idela. This,' like the other northern feas, was annually frozen over, and no obftacle to the flocking of Scandinavia with quadrupeds. Thei , . *" fixing the period in which this paflTage was obfliruded. An influx of {* or an earthquake, might clofe it up. As foon as this event took place, the Baltic felt the want of its ufual feed : it loft the property of a fea j and, by a conftant exhalation, from that time decreafed in the quantity of water. Modern philofophers have proved the great lofs it has fuftained, and that it decreafes from forty to fifty inches in a century : that^ near Pithea, N R W A t. XCVII Pithea, the gulph of Bothnia has retired from the land half a mile in forty- five years ; and near Luleay a mile in twenty-eight. Notwithftanding Its prefent ftate, when we confider the accounts given by the antients, the old Swedijh traditions, and the prefent veftiges of the former channel, we can, without any force of fancy, give full credit to the infulated form of Scandinavia, given in one ofauverius's maps*j which, he fays, is drawn from the erroneous accounts of the antients. The Suiones pofleffed the modern Sweden, and extended even to the ocean, and were a potent naval power. Their fhif)s were fo conftrufted, with prows at each end, that they were always ready to advance. Thefe people, in after times, proved, under the common name of Norfmans, the peft and conquerors of great part of fouthern Europe j their (kill in mari- time affairs fitting them for diftant expeditions. In the fixth century they were called Sueihans, and were famous for their cavalry. In their time, the Sable was common in their country : Jornandes, therefore, ob- ferves, that notwithftanding they lived poorly, they were moft richly cloathed : he alfo informs us, diat they fupplied the Romans with thefe precious furs, through the means of numbers of intervening nations f. Scandinavia, in that period, had got the name of Scanzia-, and as it wa5 then called an ifiand, and by Jomandes %, born of Gothic parents, there is all the reafon to imagine, that the paffage into the Hyperborean ocean was not in his time clofed. After repaffing the Sound, appear Schonen, Halland, and Bohujland, Swedijh provinces, bounded by the Kattegatte. Schonen, a level country totally deftitute of wood, but abundant in excellent turf. Halland, from fome fimilitude of found, is fuppofed to have been the feat of the Hille^ viones, a moft populous nation -, perhaps the fame with the Suiones of Ta- citus-, for beyond them he places the Sitones, or the country of Norway, who were a great naval people j as the hiftorian fays that they differed not from the Suiones, except in being under a female government. The pro- • At the end of his fecond vol. of Germania Ant i qua. Geticis, c. iii. % The fame^ c. iv. t Jornatidci de Rib, SuiOKBS. NORWAV. montory XCVIII N R W A Y. The Naze, montoiy of the NazeyvlfihU at eight or ten leagues diftance, with the low land of Bevenbergen in 'Jutland^ forms the entrance into the German fea. The Bommel, and the Drommely high mountains to the caft of it ; and the highland of Lefi, a vaft mountain, gradually rifing from the fhore, to the weft, are noted guides to mariners. It is reafonably fuppofed, that Pliny intended this vaft region by his ifland of Nerigon, from whence, fays he, was a paffage to 7'bule. He fpeaks alfo of Bergos, which, from agreement of found, is thought to be the prefent province of Bergen. The promon- torium Rubeas is guefled to be the . , or/i» Cape^ between which and the Cimbri, PhiUmon * places the Mare Morimaru/a, or the Dead Sea, fo called from the clouded fky that ufually reigned there. Our firft certain knowlege of the inhabitants of this country, was from the defolation they brought on the fouthern nations by their piratical in- vafions. Their country had, before that period, the name oi Nortmanna- NoRTMANs. Jandy and the inhabitants Nor f mans -, a title which included other adja- cent people. Great Britain and Ireland were ravaged by them in 845 ; and they continued their invafion till they effeded the conqueft of England, under their leader, Canute the Great. They went up the Seine as far as PariSi burnt the town, and forced its weak monarch to purchafe their ab- fence at the price of fourteen thoufand marks. They plundered Spain, and at length carried their excurfions through the Mediterranean to Italy, and even into Sicily. , They ufed narrow veflels, like their anceftors the Sitones ; and, befides oars, added the improvement of two fails : and viftualled them with faked provifions, bifcuit, cheefc, and beer. Their fhips were at firft fnnall j but in after times they were large enough to hoM a hundred or a hundred and twenty men. But the multitude of veflels was amazing. The fleet of Harold Blaatand confifted of feven hundred f . Ringo brought a fleet of two thoufand five hundred fhips againft Harold Hyldetand king of Denmark J. The fliips of the chieftains were decorated in the moft fuperb manner i we are told that the fails were enriched with • As quoted by Pliny, Hb. iv. c. 13. 4 Sax. Gram. Hijt. Dan, 109. t Mallet** Intred, i. 25/. gold. N R W A Y. gold, the maft gilt, and the ropes purple ♦. A hundred thoufand of thcfe ravages have at once fallied from Scandinavia, fo juftly ftylcd Officina Gtntium, aut cert} velut vagina nationum f. Probably neccflity, more than . ambition, caufed them to difcharge their country of its exuberant num- bers. Multitudes were dcftroyed j but multitudes remained, and peopled more favorable climes. Their king, Olaus, was a convert to Chriftianity in 994 ; Bernard, m E'^glijhmany had the honor of baptizing him, when Olaus happened to touch at one of the Scilly iflands. He plundered with great fpirit during feveral years; and in 1006 received the crown of martyrdom from his pagan fubjefts. But religious zeal firfl: gave the reft of Europe a know- lege of their country, and "the fweets of its commerce. The Han/e towns poured in their miflionaries, and reaped a temporal harveft. By the year 1204, the merchants obtained from the wife prince Suer every encourage- ment to commerce ; and by that means introduced wealth and civilization into his barren kingdom. England, by every method, cherifhed the ad- vantages refulting from an intercourfe with Norway j and Bergen was the emporium. Henry III. in 1217, entered into a league with its monarch Haquin, by which both princes ftipulate for free accefs for their fubjefts into their refpeftive kingdoms, free trade and fecurity to their perfons. In 1269, Henry entered into another treaty with Magnus, in which it was agreed, that no goods fhould be exported from either kingdom except they had been paid for i and there is befides a humane provifion on both fides, for die fecurity of the perfons and effeds of the fubjeds who fhould fufFer Ihipwreck on their feveral coafts. This country exhibits a moft wonderful appearance of coaft. It runs due north to Cape Staff, the weftern point of Sondmor, then winds north- eaft to its extremity at the North Cape. The extent (meafuring along the Ihores) is three hundred Norwegian miles, or above fifteen hundred \ng' lift) i or in a direft line, as a bird flies, above a thoufand Engliftf. High, and precipitous rocks compofe the front, with a fea generally from one to I * Sax. Gram. Hift. Dan. 145. O a t Jornandes, c. 4, three XCIX Coasts. Sea. N R W A Y. DrBKEIfDIS. Chain op Is- LAJtDS. three hundred fathoms deep wafliing their bafe ♦. Multitudes of narrow creeks penetrate deep into the land, overfhadowed by Rupendous moun- tains. The fides of thefc chafms have depth equal to that of the adja- cent fca; but in the middle is a channel called Dybrendesy i.e. deep courfes, from fifty to a hundred fathoms broad, and of the difproportion- ablc depth of four hundred f, fcemingly time-worn by the ftrength of the current from the torrent-rivers which pour into them. Fifh innumerable refort to their edges. Thefc creeks are, in many places, the roads of the country ; for the vallies which traverfe it are often fo precipitous as to be impervious, unlefs by water. Some, which want thefe conveniences, arc left uninhabited by reafon of the impofllbility of conveying to and from them the articles of commerce, or neceffaries of life. Millions of iflands, large and fmall, fkerries, or rocks, follow the greateft part of this wondrous coaft. The irtands are rude and mountanous, and foar correfpondent to the Alps of the oppofite continent. They run pa- rallel to the coaft, are generally of a long narrow form, and befet on out- fide and infide with rock and fkerries at fmall and regular diftances. The ides of Loeffort, on the north fide of the dreadful whirlpool the Mojkoeftrom, or Maetjirom, engraven by Le Bruyti, give a full idea of .he nature of the coafts %. This whirlpool is only quiefcent one quarter of an hour, at high and low water; and then alone the fifhermen venture to pafs: on the return or retreat of the tide, fuch is the fury of its vertiginous motion, that whatfoever comes within a confiderable diftance of it, is drawn in and forced to the bottom, where it remains for fome hours, after which the fhivered fragments appear on the furface. Boats, and even fhips, have been fwallowed up by it : whales have been known to be caught within the vortex j their ftruggles to free themfelves from the danger, and their piteous bellowings, are faid to furpafs all defcription. The folution of this phasnomenon is now rendered very eafy. It lies in the midft of the Jfles of Loeffort, in a narrow channel, between the ifie o( Mojkoe and that of Ver i the depth of water is between thirty-fix and forty fathoms, but oa • Pmteffidan, i. (A. t The farac, i. 69. % LtBrujn't Vyagtt, i. tab. i. the NORWAY. the fide n-xt to Ver fo (hallow, as not to give paffage to a vcffcl without danger of fplitting on the rocks. All the bottom is vaftly craggy, (hoot- ing into ftoney fpires, which appear at low water above the furfacc -, over them the flood and ebb roll with amazing rapidity, and whirl round with a noife equal to that of the greateft cataradh, fo that the roaring may be heard fcveral miles diftant *. So fimply may be explained thai wonder which philofophers have ftyled the navel of the fea; fuppofing it to hav^ been an abyfs which funk here, and rofe again in the gulph of Bothnia. The fea near the iflands is fo deep and rocky, that the Norwegian kings caufed vafl: iron rings to be faftened with lead f to the fides, to enable (hips to moor in fecurity, or to aflift them in warping out. A few of the former give flicker to the fiftiermen and their fmall ftock of cattle; the reft rife in columns of grotefque forms. On the outfide of thefe natural counterfcarps, are multitudes of baubroe, or fea-breakers, longitudinal banks of fand, running north and fouth, from the dilVance of four to fix- teen leagues from the continent, and from ten to fifteen fathoms below the furfa'ce of the water j the haunts of myriads of ufeful fifli. No country furniflies fuch numerous and fecure ports. Bergen, the capital of its diftridt, lies at the bottom of a ftrait narrow bay, at the end of one of great expanfe j it was founded in 1073 by Olaf the peaceable, and takes its name from the lofty berg or mountain which impends over it. It feems alfo to have been known to the antients § by the name of Bergos. It is a place of confiderable trade. Here, in 1665, ^ n^oft uniiic- cefsful attempt was made by an Englijh fquadron on a rich Dutch Eaji Indian fleet, which had taken refuge under the guns of the cafUe. The very remarkable prefage of Mr. Mountagu and another gentleman, relpe^- ing their deaths in this attack, is worth recording : more perhaps from the ufe the famous licentious Earl of Rochefter (who was prefent) made of it, than the notion they had conceived. The gendeman, who was of un- daunted courage, at the end of the adtion fell into fuch a trembling, that • Ttrfaiti Hift, Norv. 1. 94. Ph. Tr. Ix. 4a. f Olaui Magnus, Gtnt. Septentr, »»b. u. c. xi. % Plinii Hift. Nat. Ub. iv. c. 16. Mr. cr BsRCBKr ••-'I est Tides. Rivers. Lentzes. NORWAY. Mr. Moumgu ran to fupport him ; a ball at the inftant new them both. The firft had entered into a folemn agreement with the earl, that in cafe cither of them fell, that he Ihould appear and give notice to the other of the future ftate, if there was any. The gentleman never appeared, which, as Lord Rocbefier confeffed, was to him a great fnare for the .eft of his days, or rather till his happy converfion gave him a clear infight into the orders of Providence. Drmheim is the moft northern feat of empire we are acquainted with. It was founded by Olaf Tryggum, and was. in the flourilhing days of iV.r- 'way, the refidence of its kings. Here were kept the archives of this king, dom, and its appendages the ScoUiJh ifles ; all deftroyed bv a dreadful ftre. Its port is excellent, and its trade ftill confiderable. That of iV.r- -way has been fo from early times. Its credible records may be dated from the year 800 ; but from the claffical names of certain parts, it is evident It was known in very diftant ages. The tides off the Naze, and moft of the coafts of Norway, are very in- confiderable. At the Nor^b Cape, the fpring tides have been obferved to M^ '1^;/- "''I ""^r"'^^' ^'" ""' ^"'^ ' '^' "^^P '^ ^'"^ ^''' ^^ght inches *. Mr. miUam Fergu/on, an able pilot, who had often the conduft of our fleets in the North fea, informed me, that on the Naze, and many other parts of Norway, th. tides were hardly perceptible, except with ftrong wefterly winds, when they rofe two or three feet, and fell with the eafterly Into the ends of moft of the Dybrendes rufh the furious rivers, or rather torrents, of the mountains; ufelefs for navigation, but moft fmgularly ad- vantageous for the conveyance of the great article of commerce, the mafts and timber of the country, from the otherwife inacceffible forefts. The trees are cut down, and at prefent conveyed from fome diftance to the rivers, down which they are precipitated over rocks and ftupendous cata- rafts, until they arrive at the £,«/;,,, or booms f, placed obliquely in the • Mr. Bayley, in Phil. Tranf. lix. 270. t Pontoppidan, i. 93. tab.vii. ftream GULPH- STREAM. ciir ftream in fit places. To them the owners of the timber refort j and on paying a certain rate to the proprietors, receive their pieces, which arc all marked before they are committed to the water , but numbers are injured or deftroyed in the rough paffage. The fpecies which is of fuch great value to Norway, is the Fyr or Pure our Scotch Pine, and the Pinus Syhejiris of Lima^us. It grows in the dricft places, and fometimes attains the vaft age of four hundred years * ; and is of univerfal ufe in the northern world. Such trees as are not dettincd for mafts are fquared, and arrive in England under the name of 5^/^.. the reft are fawed on the fpot, in hundreds of mills, turned by the torrents, and reach us in form of planks. An immenfe quantity of tar is made from the trees, and even from the roots, very long after they have been divided from the trunk. The Gran, Pinus Abies, or what we call Norway Fir is m little efteem. Thoufands are cut down annually by the peafants, who feed their cattle with the tender fhoots. It is the talleft of European trees growing to the height of a hundred and fixty htu In winter, the branches are depreffed to the ground with fnow, and form beneath them the dens of wild beafts. I muft here mention the adventitious fruits, fuch as nuts and other Exor.c pk..x, vegetable productions, which are brought by the waves to thefe fhores thofe of Feroe, and the Orknies, from Jamaica and other neighboring parts t- We muft have recourfe to a caufe very remote from this place. Their vehicle is the gulph-ftream from the gulph of Mexico. The trade- winds force the great body of the ocean to the weftward through the An» tilles into that gulph, when it is forced backward along the Ihore from the mouth of the MilMi^i to Cape Florida -, doubles that cape in the narrow fea between it and Cuba, and from Cape Florida to Cape Cannaveral runs nearly north, at the diftance of from five to feven leagues from fhore, and extends in breadth from fifteen to eighteen leagues. There are regular foundin-s from the land to the edge of the ftream, where the depdi is ge- nerally feventy fathoms ; after that no bottom can be found. The found- FOUND ON THE SHORES. Golph-strbam; • Aman, Acad, v, 184. t yoj.Htbridtt. ings GUJLPH- STREAM. ingp off Cape Cannaveral are very fteep and uncertain, as the water (hal- lows fo quick, that from forty fathoms it will immediately leffen to fifteen, and from that to four, or lefs j fo diat, without great care, a fhip may be in a few minutes on fhore. It muft be obferved, that, notwithftanding the gulph-ftream in general is faid to begin where foundings end, yet its in- fluence extends feveral leagues within the foundings ; and veffels often find a confiderable current fetting to the northward all along the coaft, till they get into eight or ten fathom water, even where the foundings ftretch to twenty leagues from the fhore j but their current is generally augmented or leflened by the prevailing winds, the force of which, however, can but little affeft the grand unfathomable llream. From Cape Cannaveral to Cape Hatter as the foundings begin to widen in the extent of their run from the (hore to the inner edge of the ftream, the diftance being generally near twenty leagues, and the foundings very regular to about feventy fadioms near the edge of the ftream, where no bottom can be afterwards found. Abreaft of Savannah river, the current fets nearly north ; after which, as if from a bay, it ftretches north-eaft to Cape Hatteras j and from thence it fets eaft-north-eaft, till it has loft its force. As Cape Hatteras runs a great way into the fea, the edge cf the ftream is only from five to feven leagues diftant from the cape; and the force and rapidity of the main ftream has fuch influence, within that diftance, over fliips/ bound to the fouthward, that in very high foul winds, or in calms, they have frequently been hurried back to the northward, which has often occafioned great dif- appointment both to merchant fliips and to men of war, as was often ex- perienced in the late war. In December 1754, an exceeding good failing fliip, bound from Philadelphia to Charlejlown, got abreaft of Cape Hat- teras every day during thirteen days, fometimes even with the tide, and in a middle diftance between the cape and the inner edge of the ftream j yet the ftiip was forced back regularly, and could only recover its loft way with the morning breeze, till the fourteenth day, when a briflc gale helped it to ftem the current, and get to the fouthward of the Cape. This fliews the impoflibility of any thing which has fallen into the ftream returning or ftopping in its courfe. ,^ ; On GULPH-STREAM. On the outfide of the ftream is a ftrong eddy or contrary current td- Avards the ocean ; and on the inHde, next to America, a ftrong tide fets aga.nft it When .t fets off from Cape Hatteras. it takes a current nearly north-eaft; but m its courfe meets a great courfe that fets from the north and probably comes from HudJorCs Bay, along the coaft o{ Labrador, till the ifland of Newfoundland divides it; part fetting along the coaft through the ftreights o{ Belleijle, and fweeping paft Cape Breton, runs ob- liquely againft the gulph-ftream, and gives it a more eaftern diredion : the other part of the northern current is thought to join it on the eaftern fide of Newfoundland. The influ. .e of thefe joint currents muft be far felt ; yet poffibly us force is not fo great, nor contraded in fuch a pointed and crcumfcribed diredion as before they encountered. The prevaling winds all over this part of the ocean are the weft and north-weft, and con! fequently the whole body of the weftern ocean feems, from their influence to have what the mariners call a/./ to the eaftward, or to the north-eaft by eaft. Thus the productions of famaka, and other places bordering on the gulph of Mexico, may be firft brought by the ftream out of the gulph, inveloped in the>r^^> or alga of the gulph, round Cape Florida, and hurried by the current either along the American fliore, or fent into the ocean in the courfe along the ftream, and then by the fet of the ftream and the prevaling winds, which generally blow two-thirds of die vear* wafted to the fliores of Europe, where they are found ». ' . ' The extent of the gulph-ftream is fuppofed to be as far as Nantucket fhoals, which are not lefs than a thoufand miles from the gulph of Flc^ rida. '^ Let me remark, from Dr. Blagden f, the Angular difference of warmth in the gulph-ftream, from that of the i.a which limits its edges. In the month of April, in north latitude :i^, and weft longitude from Greenwich 76, fomewhat to the north of Charlejiown, the heat of the ftream was found to be at left fix degrees greater than the water of the fea through, •For this curious account, I am indebted to Doftor Garden, who, by hi, long refidencr in Charleflonvn, ,s extremely well ac4uainted with the fubjedl. t Phil. Tran/. Ixxi. 334. ^ whick CT CVI N O R V/ A Mountains. Metals. which it ran. From obfcrvations made on the heat, it fhould feem that the breadth of the ftream was about twenty leagues -, and that it retains* for fo great a part of its courfe, the heat it had acquired in the torrid zone: which proves the amazing velocity with which it runs. A purfuit of thefc remarks rnay be of no fmall utility to navigators who may have occafion to pafs this fingular current. The mall of the Tiliury man of war, burnt at Jamaica, was by this vehicle conveyed to the weftern fide of Scotland; and among the amaz- ing quantity of drift-wood, or timber, annually flung on the coafts of Iceh»d, are fome fpecies which grow in Virginia and Carolina ♦. All the great rivers of thofe countries contribute their fhare ; the Jlatamaha, Santee, and Roanok, and all the rivers which flow into the Cbefapeak, fend down in floods numberlefs trees f : but IcelaKd is alfo obliged to Europe for much of its drift-wood j for the common pine, fir, lime, and willows, are among thofe enumerated by Mr. Troille; all which, .robably, were wafted from Norway. The mountains oi Norway might prove a boundlefs fubjed of fpecula- tion to the traveller. Their extent is prodigious, and the variety of plants, animals, and fiflies of the lakes, are funds of conftant amufement. The filver mines, wrought ever fince 1623, are fources of wealth to the kingdom, and aflx>rd the fineft fpecimenc of the native kinds yet known. Gold was found in a confiderable quantity in i .97. Chnftian V. caufed ducats to be coined with itj the infcription was in the words o\joh, von MiTTERNACHT KOMT GOLD, out of the tiorth cotnes GOLD J. Copper and iron are found in abundance j lead in lefs quantities : tin does not extend to this northern region. It is difficult to fay which is the begin- ning of this enormous chain. In Scandinavia it begins in the great Koelen rock at the extremity of Finmark. It enters Norway in the diocefe of Brontheim, bends weftward towards the fca, and terminates at a vafl: pre- cipice, i think, the Heirefojs, about three Norwegian miles from Lifter. • TroilU^s Voy. to Iceland, 47. f Doflor Garden. , J Pontoppidan, i. 179. Mufeum Regium Havniar, pars ii. feft. v. tab. XX. N''l8.— With more truth, perhaps, our verfion has it, out of the north cometh cold. Another NORWAY. Another branch of this mountain divides Norway from SwceUtiy fills Z^- land, and rifes into the diftinguiflied fummits of Honikalero, Avajaxa, and Kittisy and ends in fcattered mafles of granite, in the low province of Finland, It inclofes Scandinavia in form of a horfe-fhoe, and divides it from the vaft plains of Ruffia. The anticnt name of this chain was Sevo mens, to this day retained in the modem name Seveberg, Pliny compares it to the Riph^an hills, and tiuly fays, it forms an immenfe bay, even to the Cimbrian promontory *, The mountains and iflands break into very groteique forms, and would furnifli admirable fubjefts for the pencil. The monftrous conoid moun- tains of Harmfoe and Luycko in RoemfdaUy Syck in Bomml-Booft, and the high lands of Jedder, form moft ftriking features even in this rugged country. Among the defiderata of thefc days, is a tour into thofe parts by a man of fortune, properly qualified, and properly attended by artifts, to fearch into the great variety of matter which this northern region would furnifli, and which would give great light into the hiftory of a race, to which hz\.( Europe owes its population. Among die vi?ws, the mountains odhtSeven Sifters in Helgeland^y and the amazing rock of ^org-batfen %, rifing majeftically out of the fea, with its pervious cavern, three thoufand ells § long, and a hundred and fifty high, with the fun at times radiating through it, are the moft capital. Not to mention the tops of many, broken into imaginary forms of towers and Gothic edifices, forts, and caf- ties, with regular walls aid baftions. I agree with the Comte De Buffbny in thinking that the heights of the Scandinavian mountains, given by Biftiop Pontoppid^n, and Mr. Brow^ alliusy are extremely exaggerated ||. They are by no means to be com- pared with thofe of the Helvetian Alps, and lefs fo with many near the equator. The fober accounts I have received from- my northern friends, ferve to confirm the opinion, that there is an increafe of height of moun- cvii RoMAtfTIC Views. Heights of Mountains. • Sew mons ibi immenfus, rec Riphais jugis minor, immancm ad Qimbrorum ufque prom«ntorium efficit finutn, qui Codanus vocatur. Lib, iv. c. 13. i PontoppiJan,i.i^6. tsh.uu J The fame, i. 47. tab. iii. § Of two Danijh feet each. || Epojues de la Nature, Suppl. torn. vi. p. 136. edit. Amjterdam, P % tains CVIII Arctic Lakes. HEIGHTS OF MOUNTAINS. tains from the north towards the equatorial countries. M. Jfcanius, pro- feflbr of mineralogy at Drontheim, affures me, that from fome late furveys, the highcft m that diocefe are not more than fix hundred fathoms above the furface of the fea i that the mountains fall to the weftern fide from the diftance of eight or ten Norwegian miles* ; but to the eaftern, from that of forty. The higheft is Dovre-fi^l in Drontbeim, and Tille in Bergen, They rife Qowly, and do not ftrike the eye like Romfdale-horn, and Horn, alen, which foar majeftically from the fes. ProfefTor Ritzius of Ijind, acquaints me, that Kinnekulle in Wefiro-Gothic is only eight hundred and fifteen Englijh feet above the lai r ■ \ ,«, or nine hundred and thirty-one above the fca. He adds, the foil. ^g h.ve been only meafured to their bafes, or to the next adjacent waters : Arefkutan, a folitary mountain of Jamtland, about four or five Swedijh miles from the higheft Alps, which feparate Norway and Sweden, is faid to be fix thoufand one hundred and fixty-two Englijh feet above the neareft rivers : Swuckuftoet, within the borders of Norway, four thoufand fix hundred and fifty-eight above lake Famundi and that lake is thought to be two or three thoufand above the fea : and finally, Sylfi^llen, on the borders of Jamtland, is three thoufand one hundred and thirty-two feet perpendicular, from the height to the bafe. By fome late experiments, the higheft mountains o( Sweden, between lat. 63 and 64, have been found to be fix thoufand fix hundred and fifty-twJ feet above the furface of the Baltic^-, but no trees wUl grow on them a£ little more than half that height. PoNTOPPiDAN gives the mountains of Nonvay the height of three thoufand fathoms : Browallius thofe of ^«;^^^« two thoufand three hundred and thirty-three, which makes then- nearly equal to the higheft Alps of Savoy, or the ftill higher fummits ot the Peruvian Andes. _ The lakes ofthis great country are not lefs magnificent. Thu o{ Paris in the fouth of Norway, is of great extent, and indented into numbers of fine bays. It is navigated by multitudes of veflels, fubfervient to the ufes of the rich iron founderies with which its coafts abound %, \v~ :ijix„ •-* Of 1 8.00a feet each. f Mr. Tarrften, in Aff. Reg, Jc. Holm, -Tra-veh, ii. 484. Trolhatta, fee Dahlberg, book ii. tab. 292. X Mr. Coxt's The ARCTIC LAKES. , The lake Wenertt, in Sweden, is near ninety miles long, and forty broad. The fhores fo low, that it has a fca-like appearance. From this lake a projeft has been formed to open a communication with the German ocean. Attempts have been made even through the ftupehdous catarads of Trol- hatta to Gothebourg j but as yet the difficulties have baffled the art of the engineer. The Swedes feem to want a Brindley. The glorious projed for joining the Baltic and the ocean has long been projefled. Lake Malar. is already united with lake Healmar, by the canal of Arboga j to join the laft with lake Wenern has been planned : but the rockinefs of the coun- try feems to forbid the attempt. The neighborhood of the Wenern lake is remarkable for feveral anti- quities. Near the fouth end, in die mountain Haclaberg, is the celebrated jEtteJiupay a tremendous precipice, down which the votaries of Odin ufed. to precipitate themfelves when weary of life, in order to arrive the fooner in the Valhalla, or hall of dieir hero *. Their bodies were firft waflied, and afterwards buried at the foot of the hill f. Thefe places were called jEttitupa, from att a family, &nd _fiupa to precipitate : and attemisftupa the rock of the race or family -, becaufe, at Aich places, the tamily was Itt- fened |. Not far from this Mttitupa was a circle of enormous upright ftones, now called Hujiwads fianar §, at which facrifices were made ia honor of thefe felf-devoted enthufiafts. Not far from hence is a row of fmall ifles lying acrofs the river Gotha^ in which is Edfborg, the remains of the antient fortrefs of the kings of the Weftrogoths, - The lake Wetter may be reckoned among thofe of the firft rate. It extends from 57. ao. as high as 57. 40. north. The greateft breadth is four Swedifh miles and a half, or twenty- feven Englijh. Its greateft depth three hundred and fixty feet : its height above the Baltic fea a hundred and forty feet. It abounds with iQands : the principal is that of Wiffmgfon^ On this the counts Brahe had a cattle : at prefent there is a college, a fchool,, and the royal park- The peninfula Qmberg, on the eaftern fide of the cix * Dahlberg, tab. 279. Ihre Glof. 807. J Bartholinus de caufis contempt. Mort. 328. f Bufching Geo^r. I. iij, S Dablbtrgt tob. 280. lake« ex ARCTIC LAKES. lake, is mountanous, and moft beautifully covered with woods. The ihorcs rocky, and worn into vaft caverns, in old times the retreat of the natives from the ravages of war. The headlands exhibit moft grotcfque fports of nature, and are cloathed with ivy, a very rare plan in thefe north- ern regions j it bloffoms here in March. Above forty rivers rufh into this great water j all which find but one difcharge, through the river Motala, which runs eaftward, fwells in its way into feveral other large lakes, and after tumbling down the great cataraft near the city of Nordhping, reaches the Baltic in Brawicken bay. This river carries through its channel hourly, not lefs than a hundred and forty thoufand cubic fathoms of water: notwithftanding which, at feafons, its courfe feems ftopt, and the very bottom is left dry. This has happened the beginning of the prefent cen- tury. The caufe of this wondrous phoenomenon is attributed to the vio- lence of the adverfe winds, to the cold and ice impregnated with faline particles. Before ftorms, the lake fVetter exhibits feveral ftrange appearances, fuch as the phantoms of cities, towers, fleets, and numbers of other moft An- gular mimickr/ of real objefts. I can compare them only to la Fata Morgana, a glorious vifion often feen on the fhores of the ftreights of Mef~ ftna ». Here are often vapours of a moft fetid fcent, attendant on the fubterraneous winds which burft out of the neighboring caverns, probably out of fome fulphureous ftrata. Winds often rife from the bottom of the lake (fuch I have felt in a lefs degree on the lake of Kejwkk) which are fometimes fo violent as to raife the waves to a height dangerous to the velTels at that time navigating the lake. The ice is of a very great thicknefs : but will frequently break into a thoufand pieces in lefs than an hour, even after it had been juft before capable of bearing a hundred horfes. This is always foretold by dread- ful founds like bellowing, and burfts like thunder, heard beneath the ice. After a deep ftillnefs on the furface of the lake, at times a thick fmoke will arife, fuch as i/Tues out of a chimney ; immediately follow lightning-, rain, and often the found of thunder exceeding the explofions of cannons] * &v.'inburne\TtVit\i Sicily, ^(^\ ■ > ; roaring ARCTIC LAKES. roaring beneath the water. Thefe noifes are chiefly heard in the fpring and autumn j the firft fymptom is the appearance of a bubble on the top. Before tempefts, fiery appearances arife fromthe midft of the waves, whirlpools, water-fpouts, and various other fingular phoenomena. The lake is not covered wholly with ice till the latter end of January j it dif- folves in the beginning of Jpril. It is obferved that the rivers are frozen much fooner than the lake itfelf. The inhabitants of the environs of the lake mtter are healthy and long-lived j the fifh fweet and whole fome : the waters fo clear, that the bottom may be plainly feen at the depth of forty-eight and even fixty feet. The falmon reaches the catarad of the Motala at the end of >/y. Eels, at the wane of the moon, in 7«/y, y^uguft, and September y defcend the river, and feek the Baltic fea. The lake Malaren or Malar is of great extent and uncommon beauty. Its length is fixty Englijh miles, the breadth thirty-fix. It receives eight rivers and ninety brooks, and, after dividing the capital of Sweden in two parts, mixes with the Baltic. It abounds with beautiful and fertile iflands, richly varied with groves, caftles, palaces, and villas, and adorned with every thing which art or nature could fupply. The palace of Brott- ningholm is moft fuperb. And the ruins of Siggtun, the feat of the hero Odin, furnamed Sigge, form a venerable group. The Swedi/h palaces have a fpecies of finery about them unknown to other countries *. The Fauna of this lake and its environs are moft remarkably great. I know of no place of equal extent that can boaft an equal number of quadrupeds, birds, filhes, and reptiles : all within reach of a great capital. As Stockholm forms the ftriking profpeft of the lake, I (hall juft make mention of it. This fingular city ftands on two peninfulas ?,nd feven rocky ifiands j fome low, others rife high out of the water, covered with variety of buildings -, numbers alfo of granite rocks afpire out of the lake • Views on this lake in Dablberg. book i. Siggtun, tab. 69, 70. Biorkoc, the feat of the Gothic kings, tab. 71. Carlberg, the prefent royal palace, tab. 73 to 77. Drottningholm,. tab. 79 to 84. Groneborg, a moft antcnt cattle, tab. 107. Skegklofter, a palace of Coun Wrangel, tab. 142. . Of CXI CXI I Mountains of FlNMARK. Pt ANT». Mil' I'- ll ' ii NORTHERN PLANTS. ■or Tea on all fides *. Multitudes are to be feen even within the walls j (6 that for a while you doubt whether you are wichin the town. The mag- nificence of many of the buildings, the depth of the water, its great clear- nefs, and the number of large Ihips which lie clofc to the quays, form a moft charming and romantic view f. In Finmark, the mountains in fome places run into the fea : in others recede far, and leave extenfive plains between their bafes and the water. Their extreme height is on the FUll-ryggen, dorjum Alpium, or hack of the Alps, a name given to the higheft courfe of the v jle chain : the fummits of which are clad with eternal fnow. Thefe are llcirted by lower moun- tains, compofed of hard fandy earth, deftitute of every vegetable, except where it is mixed with fragments of rock, on which appear the Saxifrages of feveral kinds j Diapenfia Lapponica, Fl. Lapp. N° 88; Azalea Pro^ cumbens, N» 90; the Andromeda Carulea, N" 164; and Hypnoides, W 165, thinly fcattered. Lower down are vaft woods of Birch, N°34i, a tree of equal ufe to the Laplanders^ and the northern Indians of America. On the lower Alps abound the Rein-deer Lichen, N' 437, the fupport of their only cattle ; the Dwarf Birch, N" 342, the feeds of which are the food of the White Grous beneath the fnow, during the long and rigorous winter j the Arbutus Alpina, N" 161 j and Arbutus Uva Ur/a, N-iei; and, finally, the Empetrum Nigrum, or Black Heath Berries, ufed by the Lap~ landers in their ambrofial difli the Kappitialmas %, Let me not conceal that Lapland enjoys every native fruit of Great Bri~ iaim the currant, the ftrawberry, the bilberry, the cranberry, and the • Mr. Coxe's Travels, ii. 327. See the plan; alfo the views in Dahlberg, book i, N'i'i4, 15, 16, 17. t It contains 20,000 inhabitants. Its markets are annually fupplied with 14 to 15,000 beeves. 20,000 calves. io to 35,000 Iheep. 24,000 hogs. 100,000 grous, of different fpecies, brought out of Norland, ofpecially the white grous and the black grous. After the exhaufting wars of Charles XII. S'weden could reckon only one nulhpn of inhabitants ; at prefent they are increafed to near three. Mr. Oe d m a n. t Fl. Lapp. p. 108. . cloudberry : NORTHERN PLANTS. cloudberry : which put it on an equality with our own climate, before the introduftion of foreign fruits among us. If we can clame the puckering floe, and crab, we have not much to be proud of; while the Laplanders may boaft their ackermurie (rubus arfficusj which with its neftarcous juice, and vinous flavour, fo often fupported the great Linn^bus in his arduous journies through the deferts of the country *. They may alfo exult in having given to our gardens the grateful angelica arcbangelica ; the im- puted gift of angels to men, and in Lapland the common inhabitant of the banks of every rill ; the panacea and delight of the natives f, and (prc- ferved) a frequent luxury even in our moft fumptuous deferts. The Scotch Pine, N" 346, and Norway Fir, N' 347, form the immenfc forefts oi Lapland, aflfociated with the Birch : the Pine aflfeas the dry, the Fir the wet places, and grow to a vaft fizej but, being inacceflible, arc lofl: to the great ufes of mankind. On their northern fide* they are almoft naked, and deprived of boughs by the piercing winds j the wandering Laplander remarks this, and ufes it as a compafs to fteer by, amidft thefc wilds of wood. Whole tradVs are oft-times fired by lightning j then prof: trated by the next ftorm. The natives make, of the under part of the wood (which acquires vaft hardnefs by length of time) their fnow-flioes i and form their bows for fliooting the fquirrel with pieces united with glue, made from the flcin of the perch. Their fragile boats are formed of the thinneft boards : their ropes of the fibrous roots : and finally, the inner bark, pulverized and baked, is the fubftitute for bread to a people deftin- ed to this rigorous climate. Thefe three trees, the Dwarf Birch, N" 341, the Aider, N» 340, and not lefs than twenty-three fpecies of Willows, form the whole of the trees of Lapland. Every other Swedi/h tree vaniflies on approaching that country. There is a great analogy between the plants of thefe northern Alps, and thofe of the Scottijh Highlands. A botanift is never furpri^ed with meet- ing fimilar plants on hills of the fame height, be their diftance ever fo great. It may be remarked, that out of the three hundred and feventy- CXIIf Fl.Lapp, 162. t The fame, p. 67. li nine CXIV Trir* op Arctic Europi. TREES IN THE NORTH OF EUROPE. nine perfed plants i«^ich grow in Lapland^ two hundred and ninety-otte arc found in Stotland \ and of the hundred and fifty cryptogamous, ninety- fcven are to be met with in North Brifain. In a philofophical circuit of the globe, it is eafy to obferve the exaft pro- portion of nece/Taries, animal or vegetable, which are allotted by the all- wife Providence to the demands of the inhabitants of the refpeftive cli- mates. To fuch part of the Europeans who were deftined to aftive and Mploring life j to the fubjeftion and civilization of diftant people, nearly unreclamed from a ftatc of nature j the means of conveyance, for attain- ing fo defirable an end, w«re fupplied and pointed out. In diftant ages, moft part of the world was on an equality : the canoe Icrved the naviga- tion of the then unpoliflied Briton and Gauly as it does at prefent the Jme- rieans of the recent difcoveries. As the light of improvement fpread over the weftern world, the application, and (in the cafe of pride-excited wars) the mifapplication of many of the works of nature, became the at- tention of mankind. The fupple willow covered with hides, or the rude tree hollowed into a floating trough, no longer contented the laudable am- bition of mankind j we no longer fuffered our wants to be fupplied by the ihips of remote nations. We afpired to be our own carriers j we applied to our forefts for the means -, and for that purpofe the oak firft felt the edge of the ax. Commerce and war, the confequence of wealth, in- creafed the demand, and ftimulated to the utmoft improvement in naval • affairs= Thefe arts fpread as far as Europe was inhabited by an enlight^ ened race i but there is a line which feparates the rational from a Icfs ra- tional part of the human creation. The brave, the intelligent Swedes and Norwegians, born to conquer, if not deftined to explore, are divided by a very narrow fpace from a race of men, the link, the partition between the intellefbual and animal creation. The Laplander^ with few wants, and thofe to be fupplied only from the next foreft or lake, has no demands farther than for birch for his canoes, or materials for his ftedges. Accord- ingly we find that every fpecies of tree, except the few I have mentioned, ceafe before they reach his torpid country. The Oak, quercus robur, is not found even in Sweden further than lat. 6i. The laft tree is found about TREES IN THE NORTH OF EURO PE. about CeJIe ,nG.AnManJ: It i, met with farther north in N<,ru,^. in places near the milder air of the fea , but abound, in both kingdom. i„ d,e,r fouthern prov,„ce,. The foreft, of *,«.,„ .„ f„„ „f !„„„ tmiber, oak, as well a, other tree,, pine, and fir, excepted , which give .hat provmce qu.te the appearance of Engla^J. U ha, few mafle, of L Zl'Ir, 'T T' r'"'''*' """■ «"'" °f P'""' f"™ '!•« charafteriftical face of W,,. In that province are placed the royal dock, of Carl,/. Z« ,' r ""'' "' *' '''"g'''""' '" "" ""ghborhood of the forells, Its great fupport. The Ash, fra.inus e.celfior, is not found higher than G.firicia, or lat. 6 r ; but ,n ^-.r^;^^ ,s (cultivated only) as high as Brontheim, land ''^'^'' '"'"^'^'"* erows as far as the extremity of Heljing: The Lfme, tilia Europea, is frequent in all the fouth of Sweden, but grows fcarce towards the north: it is deftroyed by die froft beyond the provmce o( Gajirickland. This is fuppofed not to have been an indige- nous tree of Great Britain. ^ The Bz^cn, fagus fylvatica. There are valt forefts of this tree in Scama and Smoland, every where in Bahus, but feldom found north of that provmce, or lat. . , This is the tree which C^far, from mifinfor- niation, den.es to our .Hand ; but vaft native woods are found in Buckinz^ hamjhtre, and fome adjacent counties. Not indigenour of our northern counties. This fpecies ends in an iHand of the lake IVetter, and with a moft re- markable tree, called the Tree of the Jpofths, on account of its dividing into twelve great ftems. At pi^fent there are only eleven, for a certain zealous peafant, fome years ago, cut down one, leaft the traitor Judas Ihould have a place among his brethren, who continue to flourilh greatly. Num- berlefs names are cut on the bark, among others, thofe of Charles XI. and XJI. and the Queen Hedvig Eleonora, wife of Charles X i who were drawn by their curiofity to vifit this beautiful tree. • AH the additions to this part I owe to Mr. Oedman. 0^2 aN» The il i\ ^^^H sft' \\ ti ! ^^^^^^Bf ^Bwt 3i la L TREES IN THE NORTH OF EUROPE. The Hornbeam, carpims betulusy is found in forcfts ; in Scania com- monly, but more rare in Smoland, efpecially beyond lat. 57. The Betula Hybrida, is a new fpecies of birch lately difcovcred ia Dalecarliay and probably peculiar to that place. It has in bark and fruc- tification the habit of the Lirch i but the leaves partake of thofe of the acer flatanoides. The AspiN, populus frmula, is found from the higheft alps of Lap^ land, to the loweft places of Scania ; the Laplanders call k/upp. Linnaeus, in his Flora Suecica, refers to it in his Flora Lapponica, yet omits it in that admirable work. The rein-deer are very fond of the frefh leaves, which are often gathered for winter food for cattle : the bark is made into meal for cattle, and the leaves and bark into a tea for calves, in Norway *. The White Poplar, populus alba, is fcattered over Scaniuy but is not a native, having been introduced there with the Black Poplar, populus nigra, of late years, and bears the winter very well in Upland. It is doubt- ful whether thefe are natives of Scotland. The Maple, the acer platanoides, is found in the fouthern parts of Sweden, and rarely on the mountain /^*a in Dalecarlia, one of its northern provinces. It grows in Rmidale and fouthern Norway more frequently ; is cultivated in Drontbeim, The Common Sycamore, or acer pfeudo- platanus, is only cultivated in Sweden. Mr. Ray fufpedbs it not to be a native of England. The Little or Common Maple, acer campeftre, is rarely found above two Swedijh miles from Lund; poflibly not a native Swedijh tree: the largeft I ever faw was at the duke oi ArgyUs, at Inverary. ■ The Blackthorn or Sloe- tree reaches as far as Norland. The Buckthorn, rhamnus catharticus, ends in Upland. The White Beam, cratagus aria, is feldom feen beyond Upfal. The Wild Cherry, prunus avium, is found no farther than Scania or TVeftrogotbia. The Wicken Tree, Jorbus aucuparia, bears the winters oi Norland. The Wa- ter Elder, -viburnum opulus, is found to the extreme north of the fame * Gunner^} Fl. Norveg. N" cxxxvii, diftrift. COMPARISON OF CLIMATES. CXVII diftri(ft. The Common Privet, ftgujirum vulgare» enlivens the province of Upland, All the above are found in fome part or other of Great Britaitii more aufpicioufly favored by nature for the growth of trees and plants than northern Sweden. No blame can reft on any nation, to whom the fun has denied its fuller influence : let fuch exult in vigor of body and acutenefs of intellefts, perhaps fuperior to thofe on whom it darts its enervating beams, and beftows every fpecies of enfeebling luxury. I requeft leave to make, by the following catalogue, a comparifon be- tween the climate of Sweden and that of England. Thefe plants bear the utmoft feverity of our cold j yet are obliged in Sweden to be fheltc.ed, during winter, under the protection of a green-houfe. A few fpecimens, out of a number, will fuffice. White jafmine. Yellow jafmine, Phillerea, Common fage, Rofcmary, Scarlet monarda, Male dogwood. Common holly, A. Prickly buck-thorn, Virginian fumach, L.aurus tinus. Pinnated bladder-nut. Scarlet flowering maple. Spurge laurel, ^ Bay-tree, Arbor judae. Garden rue. Pomegranate, Common almond-tree. Jafminum ofEcinale. Jafminum fruticans. Phillerea media. Salvia officinalis. Rofmarinus officinalis, Monarda Hftulofa. Cornus mas. Ilex aquifolium. Rhannnus paliurus. Rhus glabrum.] Viburnum tinus. Staphylasa pinnata. Acer rubrum. Daphne laureola. Laurus nobilis. Cercis filiquaftrvim. Ruta graveolens. Punica granatum. Amygdalus communis. Portugal CXVIH COMPARISON OF CLIMATES. Portugal laurel, Cockfpur thorn. Common medlar. Flowering rafpberry. Tulip-tree, Spanijh tree germander. Garden thyme, Broad-leaved lavender. Yellow Jerufalm fage, Trumpet honeyfuckle. Common laburnum. 1 Baftard acacia. Climbing milk-vetch. Common box, A. Mulberry, Walnut, the nuts of which 7 , , wiil not ripen, jjMglans regia Prunus lufitanica. Crataegus coccinea. Mefpilus germanica. Rubus odoratus. Liriodendron tulipifera. Teucrium latifolium. Thymus vulgaris. Lavendula fpica. Phlomis fruticofa. Bignonia radicans. I Cytiffus laburnum; fometimes in open Z air. Robinia pfeud-acacia. Glycine apios. Buxus fempervirens. " Morus nigra i fometimes in open air. Chefnut, Weftern plane. Common cyprels, Weftern arbor vitse. Fagus caftanea. Platanus occidentalis. Cypreflus fempervirens. Thuja occidentalis. Male myrde-leaved fumach. Coriaria multifolia. Bluchers broom.A. R„rcus aculcatus. o« tan : this is the Toll ' , , ' "^"^""" " ''^J' "<»''• ^i*- the cijtus UjZZ whTl • r ^'""" '"•'•"-""■fi"- I "-y add beautiful inclou^Mif™"^ "'"^ T' "^' °" *= "^"^ °^ ""^ P.ne.app,e, the W,& .«,,,, h,, teen introduced into Sw^d«,, and fruit S E A S O N S I N S W E D E N. fruit cut at the feat <^ Baron de Geer, at Leufjlad*. Peaches, neaarincs ^d apncots, are fheltcred during winter; but, notwithftanding art is ufed. travellers do not commend them. Apples, pears, plums, and cherries, are cultivated only in the fouthern parts ; but (the cherries excepted) af- ford a very indifferent fruit. Cherries bear the cold of the north of H,U ftngland, and bear in great abundance. In Scotland they fucceed very ill • nonpareils and golden rennets will not ripen even at Edinburgh without the help of a wall Yet in the middle ^i Augufi 1769, I have feen, at Caftle Braun, m Rojsjhire, in about /./. 57. 4., Turkey apricots, orange nefta- rmes, and a foft fmall peach, againft a common wall, ripe : but at the fanie time other peaches, neftarines, and green-gages, far from maturity. Notwithftanding England is fo noted for its vaft produce of apples, yet fuch IS us demand for them, that it imports great quantities from Nor. mandy, and even North America. In 1785 the duty at the cuftom-houfe amounted to ^SsL i6s. at the duty of about ^s. per bufhel ; that was in a year of fcarcity : but in the preceding year, which was remarkable for Jts plenty, it amounted to 278/. 11 s, Mr HoGSTROM, a patriotic gentleman, whom Providence hath placed beyond the arftic circle, in /./. 66, hadi by art brought apples to bear ripe fruit even in that diftant region. He has alfo tranfplanted feveral trees and Ihrubs of the fouth of Sweden into his rigorous climate : and has even brought the mulberiy, a native of China, to grow feveral years under his frozen (ky. He mitigates the nodlurnal frofts by burning femi- putrid wood, the flownefs and thicknefs of which alleviates a little the rigor of the nights. ° ^ Wood-ftrawberries are the moft delicious fruit in Sweden, and abound in moft amazing quantities. The great Linn^us kept himfelf free from a fit of the gout for feveral years by the liberal eating of this fruit In refpea to the produdlion of Qw, it may be faid, that the goddefs extends her bounty in form of wheat with a fparing hand, and that only in the fouthern provinces. Barley is the :veneral food of the common people , cxnr Dahlitrg, book ii. tab. 249. and cxx GRAIN OF SWEDEN. Wh Mi-ii 1j: and in the fub- alpine parts of the country, oats alone will attain maturity*. Swfi/tn is obligeti annually to purchafc from other countries fifty thou- fand Swedijh, or about fix thoufand tons Efigltjh mcafure of wheat, of which the greateft part is employed to make powder and ftarch. Wheat wiil ripen as high as iat. 6a. north ; but fo uncertain is tlie crop throughout Swedent that it is called the/eed of repentance. The winter- wheat is very often defiroycd in fcvcre winters, or by nodurnal froft of the fpring. The following is a compendious table of the Swedijh Ceres : Grain. Winter whc« Summer wheat Winter rye — Summer rye — fiailey — — Oats — ~ Buck-wheat, 1 ^*/)X. TAtan'citm, Soil, Clay — Soft earth Clay — Soft earth c\'ery where In fandv foil Tim 8 OK SowtNu. Mid. Sift. Begin, jfyrii Mid. Jug. In Mtinh At the budding of the beech. Harvbst. - End Aug. The fame. Bcg.,^*^. End Mg. StpUmbtr, OJloier. Producb. 10 or 12 fold. 6 fold. 10 fold. 6 fold. 8 to 10 fold. 6 fold. How KAR North, Seldom «bove Uf/ami, Sometimtt foi»n mixed with ryi. Not beyond Smt/anJ. InNtr/axJ; fcldom in the fieldi, but in tlia alheii of the burnt woodi. Not beyond Smtttnd. In we«k ttttdy land It mixed w!th otci, Sometimei fown with o«tt. Tho chief grain uf Nwhiid, The black the bert. Common in Norland tnd the fandy foil of Sm»l*»d, In Scamt. Scarcely bears the cli- mate of Upkxd. Fin/jHd; bean the climate well, but i« iie^icChd. The efculent roots fuccecd well in Sweden. A potato has been raifed at H'ermdon, near Stockholm, of the weight of eighteen ounces j this was thought a large one. The cultivation in Sweden is too much neglcfted -, it would • Ammn, Aieui. III. ;;. frequently m StAaONS IN SWEDJIN. Bj.quen.ly fi« NorM* from the M efleft, of fami„ A. th. fe . i.la«. a cbbage ha, been cu. of fifteen po„„da weigh" ° ^ «.i which SJ" '^";'"' *' '" "»«' "« >*•««« « «». "'i*««, >*iuch leldom exceed three or four, and hann^n k « « ■«« «nd j,ft of ^^^, i„ .he latitude of ifew. IftTfhl^u'T *V»* grow, and the plants which require a «™n h^Tr , '' """^ " be abroad. Water-fowls a moft „f *'"""?''"*' "' "" '""6T fuffered « -th.ndas.hTfXi^rarrr'tf^rT'"™*'- »"-- "« the ftones, and the hUIs begin t p,^ If if '' "' '" " "^'"^ ^"^ of fnow-water in .Aw/ -f^ '° ''Pl^ °' <^" own color. Inundations theicefioasd^^twsT T"."''' *' "^"' "« ""bound, and of birds i.t:;„^^ ',:;:":' tr ' ""r "■ --^ *^ ""- /W«, reach *»Leightlr,fr.ht ^''^f .»f '■ "W=h. with the Of its f^w. There ar! th^rotirofT^::^ ^^ ' "" '" *" ( Ji'w^f:;l\rr;hr;:oteit::!T -^f ^'-*-'^ %"'"- unknown to Brilain. Thofe whi.I K 11 "''"" "^ q"^d'-"Ped.'. ^""°- of this country a^rdManlurrh^K T "".^""^ "^ *' «"•'■"' """h The E.K. is fou^ in 5yi *«%"""; l' *' ^'"'^ '^'^ many parts . the Re.k, G««,, i, confined to the ■' "• t ■*» Water Rat j and the Shrew, Vandes and Ziebak -, are feen as high as Finmark: the Common Seal, Nuwrojh, and the Great Seal, alfo fre- quent the Ihores. All the other quadrupeds, common to Scandinavia, ceafe in Norway, and fome even in Sweden. Scandinavia received its ani- mals from the caftj but their farther progrefs was prevented by the inter- vention of the North fea between that region and Britain, Our extindt • I have no proof of this but the name. The Lynx inhabits Norway and Swdca, and all the woody parts of Sibiria. I fcarcely know whether I fliould apologize for the omiflion of thcFitchet. Hift. Sluad. i. N<> 195 ; xk^zMuftela Putorius, N" 16, Faun. Suec. Linnjeus fpeak» with uncertainty of its being found in Scania, and that is a latitude rather too far fouth for my plan. t See Mr. GatrieJ Bon/Jerfa account of the animals of Finland, p. 24. t Confult Lems lapm. 214, 215, 216. Alfo for the Moufe, &c. which want the la/- /0«i/ names. S Lttms, 220. %ecies^ BIRDS, F I S H E S., fpecics, the Bear, the Wolf, and the Beaver, came into this inand,out ^iGaul, before our reparation from the continent. Some of the northern animals never reached us : neither did the north ever receive the Fallow Deer, the Harveft Moufe, the Water Shrew, nor yet the Brown Rat, of this Work , notwithftahding it familiarly goes under the name of the Norway *. This great traft has very few birds which -re not found in Britain. We may except the Collared Falcon, the Scandinavian Owl, Rock Crow, RoL ER, Black Woodpecker, Grey-headed, Thrbe-toed, the Re- husak Grous, and the Hazei Groos ; the Ortolan, the Arctic Finch, and the I.ulean F. The Grey Redstart Warbler, the Blue Throat W. Bogrush W. Fio-eater, and Kruka W. and the Saeby Titmouse. All the cloven-footed water-fowl, except the Spoon- bill, the Crane, White and Black Storks, Finmark Snipe, Stria- ted Sandpiper, Selninoer, Waved, Shore, Wood, Alwarorim Plover, and Alexandrine; and all the web-footed kinds, except the Caspian Tern, HARLE(iyiN Duck, and Lapmark and Western Duck f, are common to both countries j but during fummer. Field- fares, Redwings, Woodcocks, and moft of the water-fowl, retire from Britain into Scandinavia, to breed in fecurity : and numbers of both land and wafer-fowl quit this frozen country during winter, compelled, for want of food, to feek a milder climate. The fifties of this extenfive coaft amount to only one hundred and eleven, and are inferior in number to thofe of Britain by twenty-eight. The fpe- cies of the North fca, which differ from the Britijh, are not numerous. The depth of water, and the forefts of marine plants which cover the bot- tom of the Norwegian feas, are affuredly the caufe of the preference of certain kinds, in their refidence in them. Among the fifties which have hitherto ftiunned the Britijh ftiores, are the CXXtll Bird*. FiSHSt. • It is a native of the Eaft Indits. See Hift. ^d. ii. N» 44. t Mr. Sparman difcovered this duck and the Saeby Titmouse in S'weden. Muf. Carl/an, tab. vii. xxv. R a Squalus 'fj ir' ! cxxiv FISHES OF VJl 1 * ^'^^ " P"'"P'*^ = ^'^e belly flat aiid Wack It is foun^ Z^tt;l: '■" "^ """"^ ^^'-^ "^ "^ ^- "-- " - "-^^ /««, »h,ch extends as far a, the ;W>^«,r.„,«,, /^ {'^ ^ exceeding four feet in length. ^ ^ ' ""' Synonathds Typhle, Lim. 416. Bloche iii .nr, «n^ c Lm. 4.7. J&i., iii. ,04. • '°°' "^ •'• 'J'"^''" Regalecus Glefve, JU.H„g, or iA,^ ,f ,t, i^- . tzzz:' u rrT"""" «'V«i fim, L^d a » ; tr^^zr^- near £ergen. Its length is frorti ten to eleven feet Th. ^ r 1 fin extends the length of the back, and unite, wit t or;e^^l Tte P^c.al^«ns are filifo™, „vated at their ends, and one-thirdtetgth of .n^JZ' T"'""' "^f"' ^°^*' ■■ » *«'" of monopterigeous Cod nn artide of commerce freqrfent on all the coaft 4^^ "r™"""'' " ^^'"-'"^ ^'^. N. 346, ^. i«^. iii. B«RN,us RAWmos, L.». 444, a«d Blennius fufc„s, AS,//«r N- ,60 Ec„™„, R L,». 446, found a, far as iJlJl^jJ^^ N 361, extends to the Eafi and mji Mus. " ' CoRv,„.*.A NovAc„iA,L,N. 447, found alfo in the ;!**,„„„,„ fta taken as far fouth as Gi>r«/,;.. ' ^^^ ^^ ^'*- '"• "b- i"- GobiusJozo,Ltn.4jo. Bloche iii. 144. PLEURONECrts CvNOOLOSSUS, et Lmo„ATut A. L,». 4C6, 4,, SPAIIUS EnYTHRYNtrs Tim .A„ '"• 450,457. ^»«-«*. "'"'^'""' ^'X- 4«9, common to Ar,r«,«y. /,^;_,, .^ Labrus Suillus, Af«//rrf. It grows to the length of two feet ; is of a purple color Theft are not the filhes of general ufe. Providence hath, in thefe parts, Th»,. o. v... beftawed with munificence the fpecies which contribute to the fupport of Z ' »"?™f'. *««'')' *= W»8dom of iV«w.;, a coaft of hardy filhermen The chain of iflands, and the ftores. are the populous parts It .s the fea which yields them a harveft, and near to it ftanS TS^l pital towns : 4e ftaples of the produce of the ocean on one hand, and of the more thmly .nhabited mountains on the other. The ftrdier U «1- vance mland, the lefs numerous is the race of man. we^A n^^h"'"^' *' ^'l;.'^',^'"^' '"^ *' S"™"' »« Ae maritime H...,».,. 7ZL T Tr"L ^^' """"S has two et„igmtions into this fea : .he firft .s from Cknjma, to C.W/«,«, when a large fpecies arrives, pre- ceded by two fpec.es of Whales, who, by inftinft, ^ait its coming. The fifl«rmen poft themfelves on fome high cliff, impatiently waiting for the cetace«,s filh, the l,aAingers of the others. They look for th^ at the moon W. or the firil new one after CMJlmas, and the moon G,V, which immediately follows. * wmtn Thefe i^errings frequent the gi^eat fand-banks, where they depofit their rpawn. They are followed by the Spring Herrings, a lirfiKich ' approach CXXVI Co». Ling. SALUOlf. FISHES OF THE approach much nearer to the Ihore, after which arrive the Summer Her- rings, wh.ch almoft literally fill every creek : the whole fi/hery is of im- rnenfe profit. From January to October, ,752. were exported, from henen lone, eleven thoufand and thirteen lafts, and it was exVcdled that as Zy more would be Ihipped ofl^ before the expiration of the year. Th h"- rings which vifit this coaft are only part of the vaft northern army which annually qu.ts the great deeps and gives wealth and food to numbers of tLuropean nations. The Cod yields another fifhery of grca, profit. They firft arrive im. med,. ely after the carfieft Herrings, and grow fo pampere'd with thei ty. .h t they rejea a ba,t , and are taken in vaft nets, which a,, f=, downl fifty or feventy fttl>onn water, and taken op every twenty-four hours wid, ouror five hundred great fim entangled in theJi. As Ae Herrirgs"* h, ; T '^fj°-'' ''""8''" "'^ »<•'" that i, taken with hook and line, baued wKh Hernng. In more advanced feafon, other varieties of Cod »rnve, and are taken, in common with Twbot and other fi/h, with lon» lines, ,0 which two hundred Ihort lines with hooks are fattened : the whole .s funk .0 the bottom, its place is rtwked by a buoy fattened to it by a ,! other l.n. of fit length. The extent of the Cod-filhery may be judgL of on hearing that 40,000 ,„i„, of four bulhels each, ofVrii and 6^ fait, are annually imported into fi^^,„ for that purpofe only. ' f Jt'', ^T '""/ !° "I' *''«•" "'" '"■'^ P"™'''' ""'' fr™^ '"0 to four feet ,n length A llngle ovary of this fp^cies has been known to weil rnn::iry!::ttw: ^"''''''"*'^'^'- ^"'p'-o-^'^'*-" - The Ling is taken on the great fand-bank during fummcr, by hook and line, and, being a fiih noted for being capable of long p„f rva,io„ ' much fought after for diftant voyages. g prewrvation, ,s riv^sl^!""""* " """! ""'"'^ """h"" fifl>> arrive in the iVir»«;« Xued ,"""2 "•""'«"-'' v«ft <»-"«'- arefent, fmoke-dried ^r picKica, into various countries. Infinite NORWEGIAN SEA. CXXVII mer H*r- is of im- m Bergen t as man/ rhc Hcr- ny which mbers of rrive im- their fry, down in urs, with •ings rc- md line, of Cod ith long le whole t by a;i- idgc'i of 1 Spanijb to four o weigh hereforc iwn are y hook ition, is "wegian ried or I [nfinitc Infinite multitudes of rare Vermes, Shells, Lithophytcs and Zoo- CuhiouiFuhei. phytcs, are found in the Norwegian feas j fcveral of which, before their dif- covcry by Bifhop Pontoppidan, were fuppofcd to have been inhabitants of moft remote places *. Among the Litbopbytes is that elegant madrepore or coral, called the madrepora pertufa, M. Nidr, iv. tab. ii. fig. i. The ifis hippuris— tab. IV. fig. 8. The gorgonia lepadifcra— 1 1. tab. xx. fig. 2. Gorgonia placomus—i 1 1. tab. i. fig. i. which grows to a vaft fizc. Another fpe- cics of gorgonia, with flender cylindrical branches, figured, in the Aa, Nidr. II. tab. ix. fig. i. The vaft alcyonium arboreum — iv. tab. xi. fig. I J and fomc other fpecies fent to me by the late Bifhop Pontoppidan, from the Norwegian fcas j among which Ihelter infinite numbers of ma- rine animals. On one, I firft difcovc-cd a concba anomia in the recent ftate, which LiNNiEus named the anomia retuja^ Vol. I. p. 1 151. N' 225. Among the animals which Linn^bus calls vermes^ is found the penna- tulus mirabilis. Faun. Suec. N''aa6ii and a very Angular long-fpined ecbinus with a fmall oody, engraven by the above- cited worthy but cre- dulous prelate. As a member of the royal fociety at Drontbeimj in Nor- way, I wifli my brethren would be ftimulated to a due attention to the wonders that furround them, and form a local mufcum, confined to the fubjedts of that extenfive kingdom. Exotic fruits flung on the coafts of Norway , which I have not defcribed in my voyage to the Hebrides, are the following : Pods of the cajfta fiftuloja. The kidney-fhapcd nut of the anacardium occidentale. Fruit of the cucurbita lagenaria, pi/tdia erythrina, and the cocos nuci- ftra. The praefefture of Nordland, is the fartheft part of the kingdom of Norway. In it is the diftria of Helgeland, remarkable for that uncom- mon genius, OSfber, or Ohtbere, ^vho, in a frozen climate, and fo early as the ninth century, did fhew a paflion for difcovery, equal perhaps with NOROLAND. Of Octhbr.. • See the Plates in Pontoppidan'i tlift. Norviay, that cxxviri O C T H E f'' No * F'N£ RACE. JRWBOIANS R. that of the prdent. His country was at that tim« rh. l,^ • l which had the left tinfture of humknity. In h Z 9oo h '" ' "'^^'^ by the fame of our renowned Alpkhd He vifit^K ^ ^' ""'' '""^^^ to him his voyages. He told th. r^, "<^ ^'fi^«l h.s court, and rdated prove if there waf nv and K . uTr^ '^'' ^' ^'' ^''''^'^^'^ '» try. It appears tha he f^^^^^^^^^ '\ ''''''' ^'''^ '^^'"^^^ ^^ --. a wafte the p cfen t^^^^l^ T^' ^"^ '^^^> °" ^^^ ^^^board Hde. waire, the prefent Fwmark, occafionally frequented bv th. r in the mouth of the fl»,„. h i . "' "^ """ anchored Ae day, of O^iJ^ „? " '7T "" '" "» '"« f- ""turies after no„h-we/of The c^"%r :; J'^''"':^""'''- ™'"' '-«^ "> "-e .bout the !)»« waT^Ilulht hT "°'' '^'°"-"'°''- '^''^ """'^^ civilized tha! the W Th '' ' ^°^'' ""''' '"""^'' <"" """^^ .Hem in the c.X72sL%Z ^^p^^r T' "T of thon^-4es m':^:ft/ftLra"t„r;rrr °'''''^^''"'^"''' ''"'' curious which occurred to hL • ' ' '"'"""" '° ""^ ^'-S ni« of hard, ^^:^!T2:z:'j';"'""'"" '^ -'°- themfelves to the coafts of the W I„ T ^Z"-""""' '"""^"^ alted by the arrival of th^Trf . "'^"■""'« A^ir virtue was ex- in ever/part :^'r cl^;^ ThS^rr:/ '" T' '' '"''' *e growth, or diftorted the human fo™ If t "" ""' ""''''"' juft fymmetry in limbs, and ^311 ,^1" "I " ""' "''"*• "'' hair is light = their eye! light Z rf^ *: ''"""" ^'" '"''"'• T*""' y ugnt grey. The male peafants of the mountains / rfius, ty the Hon. Datnes Bamn^ton, p. 9. &c. a:>d Haciluyt, i. 4. are i P I N M A R K. T ^"Z "" ,'!"'' ""^ " """' "^ "« ""■• ^y> »ai" » body, clear .nd ,n,cll,g.„. ,„ .heir mind.. Their, cerfioly i. fc„g.h of Z, frri, r ■J"""'"^. •""«'"'"<'-' '"d me„.y.„i„, whored in .7I. m the diocefe of (»„>»,«., diree hundred and ninety.four lived to the age of mnety ; fixqr.Aree to that of a hundred , and feyen to that of a hun- dred and one ♦. The Ncn,,gia,s juflly hold thcmfelve. of high val«e -. and fl,ght,ngly call their fdlow-rubj.fe, the Da,,., Ju,..* The W uatly "cknowlege ,hc fuperiority, by compofing almoft their whole army out of thefe defcendants of the all-conquering Normant. As I am now on the fubjeft of the Norman race, let me not fuppref, . fmall tnbute to the memory of my amiable and refpefted friend DW wiA^'Ht^" " f " '"*-«»"•*«'". F'kruary ,8. ,736, in la,. 6j. „. w.th,n httle more than a degree of the Araic circle : but hi, geni,; waa by no mean, frozen. His acquired knowlege was very great , «,d hi. hberal mmd made h.m eager to render it fubfervient ,0 the benefit of m.«. kn,d : h,s affab. hty endeared him .0 all his acquaintance. He wa, a fa- vonte pupj of L,»».„s, „ho fpoke of him to me in thefe moft tend^ term, : E«n u, fil,.„ afui^iM: «m in Anol.a ™^,-, eum W • vefira^s Cmm^ndavi p His untimely death, on May\\tKiZ leart "7r" 1 *; '^'"" "' ■■" >«" > *' ^^^ -d-^denral^le c^: lefeon he had formed refpefting the Arltic and A.,ar^ region.. The plants which he had coUefted were fent for into S«,<^ by hi. hers, and fold there by auftion. They amounted to feven thoufand foe! amens , but, after tafc.ng out the duplicate, and triplicate., the num^ was reduced to three thoufand, of which vety few were nativ; of the Z. «> 0»a, And, mortifying to refleft, the labors of the moft imoortant part of the life of this able philofopher, were fold for the triflin^Tm rf feventy-five pounds fterling § ! ! i ^ Within the Jrmc circle, begins Fsnmark, a narrow trad, which winds vided between Noru^a^^ and Rujla, The view from the fea is a flat, I LirZdXJl'oI\ ^ l-'iMole/^ortl^^s Account oi Denmark. ,5. I 1-ettcr, dated Vpfal Oaober 22, ,77, . ^ ^.^ qJ^^^ 5 ^ bounded. CXXIK LONGIVITT. FiNMARK. cxxx NlW RACK OF MsN. SAtMOK PISH* lEIBS. !l|u F I N M A R K, bounded; a little inland, by a chain of lofty mountains covered with fnow. The depth of water off the fliore is from a hundred to a hundred and fifty fathoms ♦. The inhabitants quit their hovels in winter, and return to them in the fummer : and, in the middle of that feafon, even the /ilpine Laplanders vifit thefe parts for the fake of fifhing j and, like the antient Scythians, remove with their tents, their herds, and furniture, and return to their mountains in autumn f. Some of them, from living near the fea, have long been called Sia Finnt, and Soe Lappemes. In this country begins inftantly a new race of men. Their ftature is from four to four feet and a half: their nair, Ihort, black, and coarfe : eyes tranfverfely narrow : irides black : their heads great: cheek-bones high : mouth wide : lips thick : their chefts broad : waifts flender : Ikin fwarthy : Ihanks fpindle %, From ufe, they run up rocks like goats, and climb trees like fquirrels : are fo ftrong in their arms that they can draw a bow which a ftout Norwegian can hardly bend; yet lazy even to torpidity, when not incited by neceffity j and pufillanimous and nervous to an hyf- terical degree. With a few variations, and very few exceptions, are the inhabitants of all the ArSlic coafts of Europe, Afia, and America. They arc nearly a diftindk fpecies \n minds and bodies, and not to be derived from the adjacent nations, or any of their better-proportioned neighbors. The feas and rivers of Finmark abound with fifh. The Alten, of Wefi Finmark, rifes in the mod remote mountains oi Lapland, zndi after a gentle courfe through mountains and forefts, forms a noble catarad, which tum- bles down an immenfe rock into a fine bafon, called, in the Northern Pilot, Alten bottomy the receptacle of numbers of veffels which refort here to filh or trafiic for Salmon §. They are taken by the natives in weirs built after the Norwegian model j and form, with the merchants of Bergen, a. great article of commerce. This coaft is attended by chains of rocks and iflands, fimilar to thofe of Norway, and are v>nly a continuation of them : the chief of which arc $anien, Trompjound, Suroy, and Maggeroe, At the remote end of the lafl: • ^nd, yenkinfoH^t Voy. \u Hackluyt, i. Jii. 12, and L'.n. FaumJmitt. i. § Lttmt, 343. t Ltemi, 169. \ Schefer, 1» W^^aii . J .: ^" . C H E R I E I S L A l^ O. ctxxr*. h m;bC„p,,Ugh and flat at top. or what Tailors call iM U»d: Mdl- «md« of the fmaU wl^cs called the Grampus, are pe,T,etually feen tum- blmg off this point, and from it ftyled the Nmb C^m ^il'lf T'f """'■'n.'"™" *" "'"™ ""* "f *e continent of Eur,f> or rather from its Ihattered fragments, the Me of Mazzo-,^ and other iflands. which lie off thccoaft, in lat. 71. 33. Thefe are bf^T^'c :! onuation of the great chain of mountains which divides Scandinavia, and finks and rifes through the ocean, in different places, to the Seven Sifters. . m about lat. 80. 30, the neareft land to the pole which we are acquainted Its fiift appearance above water, from this group, is at aerie Iflani, in C»s.,. In»».. Z' IV " r" '^'""'' ^'^'' "*" ™^' *an midway between the Nmh Cate^i Spit^ergen, or about a hundred and fifty mile, from th. latter. Its figure ,s nearly round : its furface rifes into lofty mountanous fummus craggy and covered with perpetual fnow : one of them is truly <^\.imun, mjery The horror of this ifle to the firil difcoverers muft have been unfpeakable. The profpeft dreary, black, where not hid with fnow. and broken into a thoufand precipices. No found, but of the daft, ing of the waves, the crafliing coUiCon of floating ice, the difcordant note, of myriads of fea-fowl. the yelping oiArmcFo.es, the fnorting of tlie ff^alru/es, or the romngof the Pdar Bears. This mand was probably difcovered by Stephen Benne, in , 60, +, em- ployed by Alderman Cterie, in honor of whom the place was Led. The anchor^e near it is twenty and thirty fathoms. He found there the tooth of a IFalrus, but faw none of the animals, their feafon here being pafl: 1 this was die ,y± of Auiuft. Encouraged by the hopes of profit! JSeme, made a fecond voyage the next year, and arrived at the ifiand the 9th of >/^, when he found the Walrufes lying huddled on one another, a thoufand in a heap. For want of experience, he killed only a few = but infucceeding voyages the adventurers killed, in .606, infix hours time, feven or eight hundred ; in 1608. nine hundred or a tlioufand in • S« a view of theft iflaod, i„ «,/. Tra^, ,„,. ,,-,, ,^^^^ t Pureiat, in. 566. S 1 r.... icvcn Walruses. CZXZIl SPITZBERGEN. ir' : f^ i Coals, Lead. Spitzbercen. Moffen'sIsle. feven hours j and in 1610, above fcven hundred. The profit, in the teeth, oil, and ikins, was very confiderable * j but the flaughter made among the animals frightened the furvivors away, fo that the benefit of the bufinefs was loft, and the ifland no more frequented. But from this defi- ciency originated the commencement of the Whale-fiihery by the Engli/h. It is remarkable that this ifiand produces excellent coals f i yet none arc known nearer than the diocefe o( Aggerhuys, in the fouth of Norway, and there in very fmall quantities. Lead ore is alfo found, both in Cherie IJland and a little one adjacent, called Gull IJlandX* About a hundred and fifty miles alnioftdue north, is South Cape, north lat. 76. 30, the extreme fouthern point of Spitzbergetiy the largeft of the group of frozen iflands which go under that name, or New Greenland, From this to Ferlegan-book, north lat. 80. 7, the northern extremity, is above three hundred miles -, and the greateft breadth of the group is from Haf. withm thefe vcty few years, made an attempt to fail to the pole by the e^ern fide of Sfitziergtu > but after fuffering great hardlhips, re- turned w,d,out eflefiing any difcoveor. Curiofity ha, been amply fatif- fied : and X brieve we may reft fuUy content with the common paffage to Ii^, on the conviaion of this trafl being totally imprafticable. pleafing » even |he moft incurious eye. The furf.ee of that which is congealed from the fea-water (for I muft allow it two origins) is flat and rk:";se"^;:^''' .""^ *"■" '"^' ^-^ '-■^^p^"' '^ "^-"s n^" -' wi Cfj" ^'" ^'"" f^"'' <"• fi^W^' '^ ■""■y leagues in . Imei 1 f r!.*" """""^ "' *' ^^"'^' - -^'^ '"ore fnimah at t mes frohc by hundreds. The motion of the lefler pieces is as rapid s the currents : the greater, which are fometimes two hundred leagues for at,:' Z: tl "r" +■ ™" "°" """ "«J"*-"^ ' "f- «" or a t,me, immoveable by the power of the ocean, and then produce near *e ta.on Aat bright white appearance. caUed by mariner' the mT^ ZZ \ "PProximation of two great fields produces a moft fin- gular phoenomenon, it forces the lefler (if the term can be applied to • Cra/rtz, ji. 31. t The fame. J Piip, -jz. pieces SPITZBERGEN. pieces of fcveral acres fquare) out of the water, and adds them to their furface : a fecond, and often a third fucceeds ; fo that the whole forms an aggregate of a tremendous height. Thefe float \ the fea like fo many rugged mountains, and are fometimes five or fix hundred yards thick ♦ i but the far greater part is concealed beneath the water. Thefe are conti- nually encreafed in height by the freezing of the fpray of the fea, or of the melting of the fnow, which falls on them. Thofe which remain in this frozen climate, receive continual growth ; others are gradually wafted by the northern winds into fouthern latitudes, and melt by degrees, by the heat of the fun, till they wafte away, or difappear in the boundlefs ele- ment. The coUifion of the great fields of ice, in high latitudes, is often at- tended with a noife that for a time takes away the fenfe of hearing any thing elfe j and the leffer with a grinding of unfpeakable horror. The water which dalhes againft the mountanous ice freezes into an in- finite variety of forms ; and gives the voyager ideal towns, ftreetSi churches, fteeples, and every (hape which imagination can frame f. The Icebergs, or Glacieres of the north-eaft of Spitzbergen, are among the capital wonders of the country; they are feven in number, but at con- fiderable diftances from each other : each fills the vallies for tradbs un- known, in a region totally inacceffible in the internal parts. The glacieres of Switzerland feem contemptible to thefe j but prefent often a fimilar front into fome lower valley. The laft exhibits over the fea a front three hundred feet high, emulating the emerald in color : cataradls of melted fnow precipitate down various parts, and black fpiring mountains, ftreaked with white, bound the fides, and rife crag above crag, as far as eye can reach in the back ground %. At times immenfe fragments break off, and tumble into the water, with a mofl: alarming dafliing. A piece of this vivid green fubftance has fallen, and grounded in twenty-four fathoms water, and fpired above the furface * Ellis's Foy. iiy. f Marita, $y. Crantz, i.^l. plate in Phipt's Voy. tab. vii. X See the beautiful fifty CXXXVIf Icebergs. fe*. Ui.' I !¥ } C3i;xxvii< Snow. Seasons. SPITZBERGEN. fifty feet *. Similar icel^ergs are frequent in all the ^r^/V regions ; and to their lapfes is owing the folid mountanous ice which infefts th9fe feas. Froft fports alfo with thefe iceiergs, and gives them majeftic as well as mod fingular forms. Maffes have been feen, afluming the fhape of a Gothic church, with arched windows and doors, and all the rich tracery of that ftyle, compofed of what 201' Arabian tale would fcarcely dare to relate, of cryftal of the richeft fapphirine blue: tables with one or more feet: and often immenfe flat-roofed temples, like thofe o( Luxxor on the Nth, fupported by round tranfparent columns of cerulean hue, float by the aftonifhed fpeftator f. Thefe icebergs are the creation of ages, and receive annually additional height by the falling of fnows and of rain, which often inftantly freezes, and more than repairs, the lofs by the influence of the melting fun :j:. The fnow of thefe high latitudes is as Angular as the ice. It is firfl: hard, and fmall as the fineft fand § ; changes its form to that of an hexa- gonal fhield, and into the fhape of needles, crofles, cinquefoils, and ftars plain and with ferrated rays. Their fornns depend on the difpofition of the atmofpherej and in calm weather it coalefces, and falls in clufters ||. Thunder and lightning are unknown here. The air in fummer is ge- nerally clear ; but the flcy loaden with hard white clouds. The one night of this dreadful country begins about OSfober 20th, O. S. -, the fun then fets, and never appears till about the 3d of February %-. a <>limmering indeed continues fome weeks after its fetting: then fucceed clouds and thick darknefs, broken by the light of the moon, which is luminous as that in England, and Ihines without intermiffion during the long night ** Such alfo is the cafe in Nova Zemljaif. The cold, a:cording to the EngM proverb, ftrengthens with the new year ; and the fun is ufliered in with unufual feverity of frofl:. The fplendor of that luminary on the fnowy fummits of the mountains was the moft glorious of fights to the finglc • P^.>.. p. 70. t Marre., 43. , The fame. § The fame. « 1 he fame, 5 , . ^ Relation of Eight EngUJhmen, Sec. ChurcbiWs Coll. iv. 8 1 8 — Relation of Seven Dutchmen, &c. Churchill, ii. 430. -. Narrative of Four Ru^an Lllors, 94. II De Fer, trois Foy. au Nord. 22, b. party SPITSBERGEN. cxxxtx fiBARI, FoxEg. FOWLI. Mountain*. party who furvived to relate the account. The Bears ftalk forth at the fame time from their dens, attended by their young cubs. By the begin- ning of March, the chearfol light grows ftrong : the JrSfic Foxes leave their holes, and the fea-fowls refort in great multitudes to their breeding- places *. The fun, in the height of fummer, has at times heat enough to melt the tar on the decks of fhips. It fets no more after the third of May, Day and Night. O. S. Diftindion of day and night is loft j unlefs it be fad what Fr. Marten alleges, that during the fummer night of thefc countries, the fun appears with all the faintnefs of the moon f. This is denied by Lord Mulgrave %- From Augt{/i the power of the fun declines, it fets faft ; in September day is hardly diilinguifhable ; and by the middle of 0£}ober takes a long leave of this country j the bays become frozen ; and winter reigns triumphant. Nature, in the formation of thefe iflands, preferves the fame rule which fhe does in other places : the higheft mountains are on the weftern fide j and they gradually lower to the eaft. The altitude of the moft lofty, which has been taken by Lord Mulgrave^ feems to have been one a little to the north of Black Pointy which was found by the megameter to be fif- teen hundred and three yards § : that of a hill on the little ifle, the Nor- ways, a fmall diftance to the north-eaft of Spitzhergen, was two thoufand four hundred feet : one on Vogel Sang, fixteen hundred and fifty ; another, on the ifle near Cloven Cliff, in about lat. 80, eight hundred and fixty- five J a third, on that near Cook's Hole, feven hundred and eleven j and one on Hackluyt's IJland, only three hundred and twenty-one ||. Thefe are the moft northern lands which ever were meafured j and the experiments favor the fyftem of the decreafe of the heights of the mountains toward the poles. Earth and foil are denied to thofe dreadful regions : their compofitiofi is ftone, formed by the fublime hand of Almighty Power j not frittered • Relation of Eight Englijhmen, &c. 817, 818, 819. f Marten, 48. % Voy. 71. ^ Pitp's f^oj. ii. II The fame, on tab. viii. T 2 into CXL W ') Tbmpbraturb Oir THB AiR. COALI. Vallibs. Harsours. TiDB AND 8ba. SPITZBERGEN. into fegments by fiflbres, tranfvcrfe or perpendicular, but at once caft into one immenfe and folid niafs ; a mountain is but a fingle ftcne through- out, deftitute of fiflures, except in places cracked by the refiftlefs power of frou, which often caufes lapfes, attended with a noife like thunder, feat- tenng over their bafes rude and extenfive ruins. The ftone is granite moftly grey and blad. fome red, white, and yellow. I ftrongly fufpeft that vein, of uon arc intermixed, for the meltings of the fnow tinge the rocks frequently with a ferruginous ochre. A potter's clay and a gypfum are to be met with on the eaftern part of the iOands *. In refpeft to the temperature of the fummer air in Spifzi.erge», Lord Muigrave makes thefe remark. ;-^., ;. the noon of J.ly ,oth. In lat. 80 30. long. 3. 26, the mercury ftood at 37 ; at midnight at 33 f^ and in lat. 80. 37, at noon, at 48. In lat. 80. 4. long. 2. 12, on July i6th, at noon at 49, at midnight at 48. This was die greateft degree of warmth leit in this ardtic region during the voyage. Coals are alfo found in SpUzl^ergen, by means of which, feven people, left there accidentally, were enabled to bear the feverity of the winter + The valhes, or rather glens, of this country, are filled with eternal ice or fnow , are totaUy inacceffible, and known only by the divided courfe of the mountains, or where they terminate in the fea m form ofaz/aciere No ftreams water thefe dreary bottoms -, even fprings are denied 'and i^ IS to the periodical catarafts of melied fnow of the fhort ft-mmer, or to the pooh in the middle of the fields of ice, to which the mariners are indebted tor rrelh water, ^ The harbours on the weft fide are frequent; penetrate deep into the ifiand oiSpizhergen -, and are the only channels by which the flight know- lege of the interior parts is attained. North Harbour is a fcene of pidtu- refque horror, bounded by black craggy alps, ftreaked with fnow the narrow entrance divided by an ifland, aad at feafons affording a land- locked flielter to multitudes of fliips. The tide at the Vogel Sang flows only four feet, and the flood app^.rs • Na„ative of Four Rujfian (kilors. 78, 89. ^ Sarrln^tcn^. Mifcellan.,, .6. ta SPITZBERGEN. to come from the fouth. The depth of the fea is very irregular : near the fliore it is generally fhaliow : off Low IJland^ only from ten to twenty fathoms ; yet fuddenly deepens to a hundred and feventeen : off Cloven Cliff from fourteen to twenty-eight, and deepens to two hundred. The (hallows are ufually on rock j the great depths on foft mud : the former I look on as fubmarine iQands ; but, from the fmall number of filh, the bottoms muft be univerfally barren. The grit worn from the mountains by the power of the winds, or attri- tion of cataradls of melted fnow, is the only thing wuich refembles foil, and is the bed for the few vegetables found here. This indeed is affifted by the putrefied licbens of the ocks, and the dung of birds, brough down by the fame means. Even here Flora deigns to make a fliort vifit, and fcatter over the bafes of the hills a fcanty (lock. Her efforts never rife beyond a few humble herbs, which (hoot, flower, and feed, in the fhort warmth of June and July i then wither into reft till the fucceeding year. — Let me here weave a flender garland from the lap of the goddefs, of fuch, and perhaps all, which Ihe hath beftowed on a country fo repug ant to her bounty. Let the falubrious Scurvy Grafs, the refourcc of diliempered feamen, be re- marked as providentially moft abundant in the compofition. Let me firft mention its only tree, the Salix Herbaceay or Dwarf Wil- low, defcribed by Marten, p. 65, Phips, 202, which feldom exceeds two inches in height, yet has a juft title to the name. The plants are, a new fpecies of Grafs, now named Jgroftis yllgida : TilUa Aquaticay Sp. JPl. 186. Fl. Suec. 156: Juncu:: Campejlris, FI. Sc. i. 186: Sibbaldia JProcumbens ? Fl. Lap. in. j Marten's Spitz, tab. H. fig. b : Polygonum Viviparunti Fl. Lap. 15a Marten's Spitz, tab. I. g. a : Saxifraga Op- pofttafoliay Fl. Lap. 179, 12: Sax, Cernua, Sp. PI. i. 577 j Fl. Lap. 172 : Sax. Rividarisy Sp. PI. 577 j Fl. Lap. 174 : Sax. Cafpitojay Sp. PI. 578 i Fl. Suec. 376 : Sedum Annuum ? Sp. PI. 620 ; Marten's Spitz, tab. F. fig. c : Cerajiium Alpinunty Sp. PI. 628 ; Fl. Lap. 192 : Ranun- (ulus Sulphureu>y Phips's Voy. 202; Mart. Spitz. 58 : R. LapponUuSy Fl. Lap. 461, 503 : R. Nivalis ? 232 j Mart. Spi ^ tab. F. fig. a : Cocblearia Danica, cxti SoiLt Planti. CXLII QUADRUPBDI. SPITZBERGEK. Danica, Sp. PI. 903 ; Fl. Suec. 578, 579 : Cocb. Grmlatidic a, Sp.Pl. 904 ' Polytruhum commune, Fl. Lap. 395 : Bryum Hypnoides, Fl. Lap. 196 • ^'^^JrUhoUes ? Dill, ^g, , Mufc. tab. 50. fig. 61 : Bryum HypnJils f im. Mufc. 394, tab. 50, fig. 64. C : Hypnum Aduncum, Sp. PI. ,592 , ri. Suec. 879, 1025 •• Jungermannia Julacea, Sp. PI. 1601 : Jung, like the Ltchenajirum Ramoftus, foL trif. Dill. Mufc. 489, tab. 70, fig. 15 : Lichen Encetorum, Fl. L.p. 936, 1068 : Z. IJlandicus, 959. 1085 : L. Nivalis, 446: Z.. C««/>«., 441: L. Polyrhizos, Sp. PI. ,618; Fl. Suec. iio8- L Py^^idatus, Fl. Lap. 428 : L. Cornutus, 434 : L. Rangiferims, 437 :' L.Glohferus, Lin. MantifT. 133 : Z. P^/.i,.//., Fl. Lap. 439: L. Chaly. hetfomrs. Sp. PJ. ^6^y, Fl. Suec. 988, 1 1 .7 : and the Fucus SaccharimU \:\. Lap. 460,; Mart. Spitz, tab. F. fig. 6. It is matter of curiofity to trace the decreafe of vegetables from our own ifland to this fpot, where fo few are to be found. They decreafe with the numbers of herbivorous animals, and the wants of mankind. The following catalogue may not be quite juft, but is probably pretty near the truth: ^ r / England has Scotland The Orknies Holland Sweden Lapland Iceland Perfeft. 1,124 804 354 809 933 379 309 Imperfeft. 590 428 144 275 366 233 Total, — i>7H -- 1,232 — 498 — 1,084 — 1,299 — 534 — 542 Thofe of Spitzbergen are given above. The three terreftrial quadrupeds of thefe iHands are confined here with- out poffibility of migration. The Polar Bears pafs the greateft part of the winter in a torpid ftate : appear in numbers at the firft return of the fun when, probably, they take to the ice, in queft of their prey. Seals, or dead Whales. It is difficult to account for the means which the Foxes find for fupport, as 'y SPITZBERGEN, as the ifland" is deftitute of birds during the whole winter j and, the bays being totally frozen up, they can find no fubfiftence from the fea. Per- haps they lay up provifion for winter, on which they fubfift till the arrival of the birds in March -, at which feafon they have been obferved firft to quit their holes, and appear in multitudes *. The Rein Deer have at all times their favorite lichen, which they can readily get at, by help of their pal mated horns. Walruses and Seals are found in great abundance ; the latter are often the objea of chace, for the fake both of oil and fkins : the Ruftans make voyages on purpofe. In 1743, four unhappy mariners of that nation were accidentally left on Ihore on North Eaftland, called by the Ruffians Maloy Broun. Here three (the fourth died in the laft year) lived till Juguji 1 5th, 1749 i when they were providentially relieved by the arrival of a Ihip, after paffing fix years, realizing in ingenious contrivances the celebrated Englijb fable of Robin/on Crujoe f . In the year 1633, feven Dutch failors were left voluntarily on the weftern part of Spitzbergen, to pafs the winter, and form their remarks. They were furnilhed with medicines, and every requifite to preferve life i but every one periflied by the effefts of the fcurvy. In the next year, feven other unhappy men devoted themfelves, and died in the fame manner. Of the firft fet, it appeared by his journal, that the laft was alive the 30th o(Jpril 1634; of the fecond, the life of the laft furvivor did not con- tinue far beyond the aSth of February 1635 |. Yet eight Englijhmen, left in 1630 in the fame country, by accident, and unprovided with every thing, framed themfelves a hut from fome old materials, and were found by the returning ftiips, on May 28th, 163 1, in good health ||. Thus Ruffian hardinefs and Britijh fpirit braved a climate, which the phlegmatic conftitution of a Dutchman could not refift. To meet with the Snow Bunting, a bird whofe bill, in common with the reft of that genus, is calculated for granivorous life, is a kind of mira- cle. The country has a very fcanty provifion of feeds ; the earth yields cxtiu • Churchill, iv. Si 9. f See the curious Narrative. ii. 415, 427. 11 The fame, iv. 808. I ChurchiWs CoU. no Birds.. «XLIV SPITZBERGEN. m VWBKIWllt no worms, the air no infefts ; yet thefe birds are fecn in flocks innumer- able, and that chiefly on the ice around Spitzbergen : as it breeds early, pofllbly the old and young may have quitted the land, and colledted on the ice at the time of the arrival of the (hips. Of cloven-footed water-fowl, the Purre alone is feen here. Of web-footed, the Puffin Auk, the Razor Bill, the Little Auk, the Foolish Guillemot, the Black Guillemot, the Northern Diver, the Ivory Gull, the Herring Gull, the Arctic Gull, the KiTTiWAKE, and the Greater Tern : thefe, with the Eider Duck, complete the fliort lift: of the feathered tribe of Spitzbergen.- All thefe breed in the froft-rent cracks of the mountains, and appear even in thefe regions before the i6th o( March *. Fi»H. The Whale is lord paramount of thefe feas ; and, like a monftrous ty- rant, feems to have terrified almoft every other fpecies of fifli away. A few Coal Fifh, Br. Zool. iii. N° 78, and two of the unftuous Suckers, N" 58; were the whole which were taken by Lord Mulgruve^ after feveral trials by hook and by net. I can never imagine that the fliallow, barren, and turbulent fliores of the polar regions receive, as is popularly thought, the immenfe fhoals of Herrings and Cod which annually repair to other more fouthern feas. Their retreat muft: be in the great depths before de- fcribed f, where they are fecure from the greatefl: ftorms, and probably enjoy a bottom luxuriant in plants and vermes. The Whale, which inhabits thefe feas, and occafions the great refort of fhipping, is the common fpecies, Br. Zool. iii. N° 16. I have in that Work given its hiftory j therefore fliall add no more, than that during fpring thefe animals keep near Greenland and the ifland of John Mayen j and towards fummer they appear in the feas of Spitzbergen. The Fin Fifh, Br. Zool. iii. N" 1 8, is another fpecies : on their appearance, the Common Whale makes its retreat. The Beluga or White Whale, is ktn. here in fummer, and prognofl:icates a good fifliery. The voyage to the ufual ftation for the Whale-fiftiery, in thefe feas, is t>; I ChurchiWiColl. iv. p..8l8. I See p. Ixxvii. from SPITZBERGEN. from the eaftern coaft of Great Britain very fhort, the bufinefs concluded with much expedition. The following journal of the fhip Yarmouth, of Yarmouth, is one among many other proofs I could offer : CXLV 1787. ' March 1 9. left Yarmouth Roads. May 14. killed the ftrft whale 24. anchored off Lerwick till 17. killed the fecond. April 1. 20. lat. 75. 26. 9. fell in with ice. 31. third whale. II. in lat. 70. 50. June 6. killed a bottle-nofe. 13. lat. 70. 25. II. lat. 75. 2^' 15. got fome feals. 14. lat. 76. 40. 23. lat. 72. 40. 18. killed more feals. May 2. lat. 73. 50. 22. lat. 75. 12. 3. lat. 75. 45- 12. lat. 75. 19. 24. not being able with fafety to get through the ice, toke departure home from lat. 74. 45* iong* E. 10. and got into Yarmouth roads, July nth. The infetfts, vermes, and Ihells, of Spitzbergen, are very few. Th6 Pfawn, Br, Zooi. iv. N" 28, and Sea Flea, N» ^Zy are found there. The Cancer Boreas, Ampulla, and Nugax, are three new fpecies *, added to the genus by the noble navigator. Of the known fpecies of verm'ts, the A/cidia Gelatino/a, Lin. Syft. 1087 : the A/cidia Ruftica, 1087, 5 :'the Lernea Brancbialis, 1092 : and the Clio Helicina, the fmall Slime Filh of Marten, p. 141, tab. (^fig. e : and the Clio Limacina, the Sea May Fly of the fame, p. 169, tab, P. fig. 5 : thii Sipunculus Lendix, a new fpecies, Phips, 1 94, tab. xiii. are found here : the two laft, the fuppofed food of the Common Whale, are met with in vafl! abundance f : the Medu/a Capillata, the AJierias Pappoja, Lin. Syft. 1098 : AJl. Rubens, 1099 : AJi. PeSfinata, i loi ; Br. ZooL iv. N" 70 : AJi. Ophi- ura, 1 100 i Br. Zool. iv. N" 62 : and 4/1. Caput Meduja, Lin. Syft. i loi ; • Phips* s Fij. 190, &c. tab. xii. t The fame, p. 194., 195. :| ,-'r; u Br, /'^ i.^;. CXLVI SPITZBERGEN. Discovery of Spitzberqbm. Br. Zool. iv. N' yj. ^intinnahulum, 1168 And of Shells, the Chiton Ruber, 1107: Lepas the My a Truncata, 1112; Br. Zool. N'14: and Myulus Rugojus. 1156, Br. Zool iv. N»72: ^\^^ Buccinum Carinatum, a new fpecies, Phips, 197, tab. xiii : turbo Helicinus of the fame, 198 • the Serpula Spirorbis, Lin. Sy^. ^^6s ; Br. Zool. iv. N' 155 : Serpula ' trU quetra, 1265; Br. Zool. iv. N»i56: and the Sabella Fruftukfa, Phips, 198, complete the lift of this clafs. Among the Zoophytes is the MiL pora Polymorpha, Lin. Syft. 1285 ; and Millep. 1286^ and a moft cu- nous new genus, difcovered in the voyage, named the Synoicum Turgens, 199, tab. Xiii : the Flujlra Pilo/a, Lin. Syft. and Fl. Membranacea, 1301 3, 5 : and, to conclude, that very curious Zoophyte, the foundation of the Ml £«.mVthe Vorticella Encrinus, Lin. Syft. N° ,317, engraven in our Tranfaftions, vol. xlviii. p. 305, and taken in lat. 79, off this coaft : two of dhem being drawn up with the founding-line, in 236 fathom water. The priority of difcovery of thefe iQands has been a great matter of con- troverfy between the Englijh and the Butch. We clame it from the fight which Sir Hugh miloughby is pretended to have had of it in his unfortu nate voyage -, but if what he faw, in lat. 72, was not a fog-bank, we mult fuppofe It to have been either John Mayen's iile, or part of Greenland The abfurd zeal of the Englijh compilers makes Stephen Boroughs the fe- cond difcoverer of this country, in 1556,, but it is very certain, that he never got higher than lat. 70. 42, nor ever meant any difcovery but a paflage to the river Ob *. It doubtlefsly was firft difcovered by the Dutch Barentz ; who, in his third voyage, in 1596, for the finding out the north- caft paffage, met with a land in lat. 79 f, and anchored in a good road in eighteen fathom water. He afterwards failed as high as 80, and found two of the iflands of which Spitzbergen is compofed f. Embarraffed with ice, he took a fouthern courfe, and was foon after wrecked on die coaft of Nova Zemlja : but the Englijh and Dutch purfued the hint ; and the Whale-fifhery, which before was chiefly carried on by the Bi/cayeners in • Hackluyt, i. 274, 280. t Troit Foyages au NorJ, &c. par GirarJ de Fer, p. 14, 15. the RUSSIAN COLONY. the bay of St. Laure»u, was commenced here with great fuccefs. So The R^,„, have of late attempted to coloni2e thefe dreadful inands They have for a few years paft, fent parties to continue there the who^' year , who have eftabliihed fettlements on the iHe of Sfi,.ierjlt oZ B.y,K.„,-sBny Ma,,ate„a Bay, W.*,,,, and GrL uZr tuZ they have b„,lt huts, each of which is occupa-d by about two boat crewl or twenty-fix men They bring with them falted fift, rve-flour, andTe f rum or whey .f four milk. T' whey is their chief beverag . and i IZf tI I u " ™~^' "''"'^ '^'^ ^""S with them from M. ""f: J^' .■■"" "' ^bove ground, and mod furprizingly warm , placed alfo .n fituat>ons which may guard them as much as°poffible fom . kcenncfs of the northern wind. "'" i"= Mr. E^i.e rcnnuch. furgeon of D,„,i.r (who, by d,e friendftip of the worthy Mr. G«r,.P««, of £^»...^*, fevored me wid, this account g.ves me th. followng particulars from his own knowlege:-" Duli our ftay on the .fland. my curiofity prompted me to go L (hore, that! m,ght fee the .economy of thefe armc fettlers . and had an opportun ty of fee.„g them d,ne ; and though their fare appeared coarfe. th'e'difpat h •J^ey ufe, fa,d a great deal for their health and appetite. They boil their fift w,th water and rye .^al : and this conftitu.es their dietdur ng winter In the fummer they l.ve chiefly on fowls, or their eggs ; but in generll they forbear fleft, as d,e fafts prefcribed by their religion are fo numto:^ They are dreffed .„ the Ik.ns of the animals they kill, which they ufe with t I ""Wf ^'''- *''■■ ^'^'"S i^ likewife compofed of Ikms, cJ.,efiy of thnft of the Bear or Rein Deer. The ftin of the I- « is the moft valuable , but thefe are preferved as articles of commerce in their own country. They catch the Behga, or white Whale, in nets, being converfant m th.s fpecies of filhery , but are ignorant of that of the great Whale They were very folieitous to get information on that fubjeft , which I endeavoured to inftruft them in, in return for the information the^ ^ ^ fo CXLVII Ru SSI AN Co- lony. cxLvm RUSSIAN COLONY. Hon Island. fo readily gave me. They are moft excellent markfmen ; but, what is peculiar, in prefenting their piece, they do not raife it to their fliouldcr, but place the butt-end between their arm and their fide, fixing their eye on the objeft toward which they direft the barrel. I faw a Bear receive a confiderable (hot : it aUoniftied me greatly to fee the animal apply great quantities of fnow to the part (which was bleeding froely) as if confcioua of its ftyptic powers. It retreated with much flownefs ; but at (hort in- tervals looked behind, and, with much art, threw abundance of fnow with its hind-paws into the wound. Few of the Ruffians die frorr the feverity of the cold, but are often froft-bitten, fo as to lofe their toes or fingers j for they are fo hardy as to hunt in all weathers. I naturally afked them. Had they a furgeon ? They replied, * No ! no ! Christ is our doftor 1' They quit the ifland in SeptembeVy and are privileged to leave the place by the 2 2d of that month,, whether they are relieved by a frefli party from Ruffia or not." — Let me remark, that the great exercife ufed b> thefc volunteer adventurers j their quantity of vegetable food j their frefliening their fait provifion, by boiling it in water, and mixing it with flour ; their beverage of whey j and their total abftinence from ipirituous liquors— are the happy prefervaiivcs from the fcurvy, which brought all the preceding adventurers, who perilhed, to their raiferable end *. The drink of thefe Ruffians was no other than ^« the only objed: it could have in this remote place. It has caufed an aflemblage of about three hundred Norwegian cottages, the habitations of filhermen. Beyond the adjacent promontv,ry, Dome/nejsy the fea runs weftward, and forms a deep bay. The river Pas is che boundary between the Mufcovitijh and Not'- wsgian dominions, Kegor^ or Fijhers IJlandy ftretches along the Ihore a little to the eaft of the moutli o*" the Pas. A vaft hollow lea is obferved off this ifland, arifing from the N. W. and N. E. winds. Let it be re- marked, that the land takes 3 fouihern trend from the North Cape to the extreme of the White Sea j and the hills gradually decline in height, and the ifles diminilh in number. Kola^ a vaft river, opens a little to the eaft of Kegor, and is about a mile broad near the town of Kola, above feven leagues from its mouth. This, above two centuries ago, was the great i ;;rort of Englijh and Dutch, who carried on a great trade in Salmon and fifh- Coast FiNMA OF Wardhuys. CI. Ml Sir Hugh WiLLOUGHBY, SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY'S EXPEDITION: filh-oil *. The oil is extrafted from the livers of the Sharks, fuch as the Brugje, Haa-mer or Bafking Shark, Br. Zool. III. N» 41 ; the Haa-JkUrdin or White Shark, Br. Zool. III. N- 42 , and the Haa-brand o; Blue Shark, N" 43. All thefe fpecies having for a long time been taken for this pur- pofef, chiefly m the winter, and by the natives. Cod-fiih, Holibuts, and moft of the vrJuable fi(h of the German fea, abound as far as this high latitude. Even the Tunny is found to purfue the Mackard into thefe cold leas X The fmall ifle of Kilduyn lies a little to the eaft of the Kola ■ and farther on the Sem-ojlrowow, or feven iflands ; not far from which is the nverJrzwa, memorable for the fate of our iUuftrious countryman. Sir Hug^ JVilloughby, who, in May 1553, failed from Ratcliff. on the firft voyage for the dijcovery by fea o{ Mufcovia by the north-eaft, u country at that time fcarcely known to the reft of Europe. In Juguji he was fepa- rated from his co.abrts in this high latitude, and driven by tempefts into this par., where he was found, the fpring following, by fome Ruffian fifhermen, with all his crew, uozen to death. His more fortunate con- fort Ruh.rd Chancellor, captain and pilot major, pinfued his voyage and renewed the c.il:overy of the White Sea, or bay of St. Nicholas. T^J ci- cumftanccs attending his arrival exadly refembic thofe of the firft difcoverers oi^mertca. He was ftruck with aftonilLment at the barbarity of tht Ruffian inhabitants. They, in return, ftood amazed at the fize of his Mp; thevfell down and would have kiffed his feet : and when they left him, fpread abroad the arrival of « a ftrange nation of fingtilar gentleneffe and courtefie " He vifited in Hedges the court oi Bajilovitz II. then at Mo/cow, and layed the foundation of immenfe commerce with this country, for a feries of years even to the diftant and unthought-of P^r>. ' It is fing^ilar tha. fo very little has been preferved concerning that veiy illuftnous cW^^^^^^ Sir Hugh Willoughby. It appears that he ;as fon of Sir Henry Wdloughby, knight and banneret, by his third wife Elen, • Ha.,lu,,, I. ,6. t Torf^i, Hift. Nor.e,. I. ,,. M.lUr, Zaol. Dan. N" 315. J'0>3I8. t leems Lapm. 326. Pontc/,/,. 11. 1^3. ^ daughter HIS FAMILY. . daughter of John Egerton of Wrine Hall, in Chejhire, Efq. Sir Hugh married Jane, daughter of Sir Nicholas Strelley, of Strelley, in the county of Nottingham, Knt.; by her he had a fon named Henry, of whom I do not find any account. They were originally of Rifdey, in Berbyflnre, Sir Hugh .s ftiled by Cambdcn, of Rijeley. Thoroton adds the fame title to an anceftor of the fame chriftian name, who died in 1491. They changed their refidence to milaton, in Nottingham/hire, the princely and venerable feat of Lord Middleton, who acquired it by die marriage of his anceftor Sir Perceval Willoughby, with Brigitta, daughter and. fole heirefs of Sir Francts JVilloughby, founder of that noble pile. The portrait of die celebrated Sir //«^^ is to be feen there; a whole length, in very large breeches, according to the fafhion of the times, in a room hung with velvet, with a table covered with velvet, and a rich carpet. From his meagre appearance, the fervant tells you, that it reprefents the attitude, &c. in which he was found ftarved. This trivial account is all that is left of fo great a name. From the river Arzina the land trends faft to the fouth-eaft. Swjatoi Nos, or the Holy Promontory, is the next of note : here commences a -ftreight, which running to the fouth-weft, opens in the Bioele More, or the mite Sea ; on the eaft fide of the ftreight is the ifie oiRandinos. The Bioele More, or White Sea, may, with much propriety, be called a gulph; on the weft fide it is bounded by Ruffian Lapland, confiftingof low hills; on the eaftern by the fiat province o{ Me/en. Its water is ftiallow, and its bottom muddy, occafioned by the violent floods during the meltings of the fnows. Thefe rufh out of the entrance of the fea with a moft terribit riopfing, and almoft deprive it-of faltnefs. This was the Cw^« fea of Oaher, but had been forgotten by the Englijh till it was again difcovered by Chancellor, The Norwegians traded and frequented this fea till the fourteenth cen- tur3^ They called the White Sea, Gandevic, and the land to the eaft Biar-- maland, corrupted fiom Permia, the Ruffian name. If we may credit the hiftories formed from the fongs of the antient Scalds, it appears that Per^ mia was invaded, in the time of king Gormo, by rhorU, a chieftain fent on CLf White Sba CLII IV IF™*' I Trade of j^rchangel. ARCHANGEL.. on the adventure ; and adventures he met with worthy of the magical pen of the author o( ^q Arabian Nights * . This preceded the time of OSiher. We may depend more on the learned Icelander 'Torfaus^ who re- lates, that in the time of king Hacquin^ in the year 1224, two of his ge- nerals made an inroad into this country, and made a great flaughter among the Permians f. Whether to expiate that fault, or out of a zeal for Chiiftianity, I cannot fay, but the fame prince built, for a number of Permians who had been expelled their country, a church in the ifle of Tromp-Joundy off Finmark. Thefe he caufed to be inftrufled in the Chrijiian religion, and afTigned them a place for their habitation J, The Dwina, or double river, difcharges itfelf into the bottom of the pyhite Sea, It takes its name from its being formed by the Suchana and the Tug. It is navigable to a great diftance, even to fFologda^ in lat. 59. 1 5, a thoufand verfts, or above fix hundred and fjxty-fix miles by water. The ifles of Podejemjkee form the Delta of this great river §. The channel on each fide is thirty miles long, and difficult of navigation ; their depth from three to eight fathom. A narrow channel, paffable by Ruffian lodjes^ or fmall veffels, runs, through the middle of the Delta. Archangel ftands in lat. 64. 35, on the banks of the eaftern channel, at its extremity, but may be approached by either. Archangel arofe from a caftle built by Ba/ilovitz II. to protedt the increafing trade brought there on the dif- covery of the White Sea by the EngliJI: ; for fliips of all nations reforted to this port, even as far as from Venice. Its exports, in 1655, amounted to three hundred and tiiirty thoufand pounds ||. Peter the Great, intent ox\ aggrandizing his creation, Peter/burgh, prohibited all trade to Arch- angel, except from the neighboring provinces. Still its exports of tar were confiderable : in 1730, to the amount of forty thoufand lafts, of eleven barrels each f . As late as the year 1784, a hundred and twenty Ihips failed out of this port. The Ihips built here are made entirely of deal, and are of a vaft fize and height. By means of the Dwina it re- • Saxo Grainm. lib. viii, p i6j. § Chart of the northern navigation. t HiJ}. Nor'veg. 164. X The fame. IJ AnckfjWs Dia. ii. 97. fl The fame, 328. ceives Ab fflL_ii'* K A N D I N O S. ceivcs various articles of commerce from the interior parts, and its exports are, to tliis day, prodigious. It fends, during winter, great quantities of the Nawagoy a fmall fpecies of three-finned Cod*, to Peterjburgh, frozen, as Kola does Herrings in the fame ftate. There is alfo found in this fea a new fpecies of Anarrbicas or Wolf fifh. It grows to the length of three feet. The teeth are numerous, and refembie canine teedij the body is covered with numerous round fpots of a pale brown colour, with very large ones of a dufky hue. It was dif- covered by Mr. Laxman, in the A£}. Acad. Petrop, 178 1, p. 271. tab. vi. The Ruffians call it Kufatcha. The White Sea is every winter filled with ice from the Frozen ocean, which brings with it the Harp Seal, and the Leporine frequents it during fummer. Whoever furveys the maps of the provinces between this fea and the gulphs of Bothnia and Finlandy will obferve them to be more occupied by lakes than land, and be at once fatisfied of the proba- bility of the once-infulated ftate oi Scandinavia. As foon as thefe ftreights were clofed, the White Sea loft its depth, and is at prefent kept open only by the force of its great rivers. On the eaftern fide of the entrance into the ftreight, is the ifle of Kan- dims, often fpoken of by our early navigators in their way to the Waygatz, in their fearch for a north-eaft paffage. Between it and the main land is a very narrow channel. After doubling the cape of KandinoSj the fea forms two great bays. A confiderable part of the Ihore to the eaft confifts of low fandy hills f. Into the moft remote bny flows, in lat. 68. 30, by many mouths, the vaft river Peczora, a place of great trade before the time of Peter I. Thoufands of Samoieds and other favages reforted to the town, with feathers of White Grous, and other birds j Sables, and the moft valuable furs; fkins of Elks and other Deer; the oil from the Walrus; from the Beluga; and different fort of filh %. Here was, in 161 1, a great fifhery of Beluga : above fifty boats, with three men each, were employed to harpoon them ||. The • Non;. Com. Petrop. xiv. 484. tab. xii. Its length do«s not exceed eleven inches, t Hackluyt. i. 277. j Purchas, i. 546. || The fame, 549. CLIK Nbw Wolp Fish. Kandino9» X entrance CLIV Samoieds. S A M O I E D S. entrance into the; Peczora is dangerous, by reafon of a fandy f oal. The tide rifes there only four feet. The coafts eaft of Archangel, even as far as the river 0^, are inhal)ited by the Snmokds ; a race as fhort as the Laplanders more ugly, and infinitely more brutalized j their food being the carcafes of horfes, or any other animals. They ufe the Rein Deer to draw their Hedges, but are not civilized enough to make it the fubftitute for the -ow. Thefe arc in fad the Hot tern 'j of the north. Their country was that of the Beormas, the antient Permia, before-men- tioned, ftill retained among the titles of the Emperors ofRufia. The Nort- mans and Sweons had great intercourle with them through the Neva and the lake Ladoga. Their capital was Tcberdyft, feated in about lat. 60. 25, on the river Kolva. It was the great northern emporium of very early times. An immenfe trafBc was carried on by th* merchants, even from the remote India. They came down the Oxus into the Ca/pian fea, thence up the P^olga, and from that river into the Kama, which receives into it th • Kolva*, on which Tcherdyn, now an inconfiderable place, is feated. The Biarms purchafed the merchandize from thefe foreigners, and conveyed it up the Peczora to the moft diftant people of the north : and after obtaining furs in exchange, returned and delivered them at Tcherdyn to the foreio-a merchants. Ladoga, which flood on the lake of the fame name, was another vaft emporium, till it was deferted, after the rife of Novogrod, feated on the lake Ilmen, at the mouth of the Welchotv, which runs into the Ladoga lake. This had its amazing feafon of wealth and prof- perity. Both extended their trade into the Baltic as far as mjhy : both were in their day the ftaple of the goods of tiie Eaft. In the antient burial-places at Ladoga were found proofs, in the coins of Syria and Arabia j there were alfo found coins of Greece and Rome f : even at "Tcherdyn, coins of the Arabian caliphs have been difcovered. The communication with the weftern' world was not lefs ready, and might have been effefted by the fame means, that of rivers. From La- Strahlemberg, i lo. Nichols Ruff. Nations, I. 176. f StraJAcmherg, no. doga ill MEANS OF EXTENSIVE INTERCOURSE. A.'i was a pa/Tage down t',c rreat river micbow to Novogorcd and the lake Jlmen. At the br om is the river /W«, which rifcs in a fmall lake, and within a fmall diftancc of ot!iers almoft contiguous to the f'o/ga. By means ofvohks, or what the ^men am rail carry ing-places, a communication with that river is formed. The Volga might be the chan- nel fro.. 30th the daflern and wcltern world. Thar ver navigable fir beyond iwer, and to a finall diftance from the i.ori/lhc.es, or Dnepr - down hich was a quick paflage into tl Euxine or Black fen ^nd from thence to Syria, Greece, and Rome itfdf. The carrying-places, either from river to river, or to avoid the cataradls of the Dnepr, might be eafily furmounted, for we arc told that in the Palus Mmtis, part of this very fea, light boats, covered with leather, were ufed ; not only on account of the fliallownefs of the Palus, but for the paflage up the Volga, the Borift. henes, and other great rivers, wliich, like thofe o{ America, would b- im- pervioit l,y any other fort of veflels. Thus there was a communication prafticu^ic with tJR ba-barous nations of the north, from the colonies which the £^;.///^«., the n^-eh, and the Romans \,^A, ia their different periods, on the £«m - fea ; and for the proteftion of which the Romans kept on It a leet of i ty fail. It was through thefe channels the an- cients received tJu :itUe knowlege they had of the armc regions. CLT K/"^'-f' ^^^ ^...va> - <^^ w IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 "^iilM Mas I.I us I JO Z5 22 ■2.0 1.8 11-25 111.4 11.6 Photographic Sdences Corporation W /■^ 4 £ « 4' ^' (V .^~" 4 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 6^ '^:m % %. % 7. ot) ctvrr ASIA, f Which has moft natural and ftrongly-marked limits, commences to the eaft of the Peczora. Here appear the PTerchoturian mountains, or famous UnALtiAi* Urallian chain, which begins diftindly (i. it may be traced interruptedly Chaik. farther fouth) near the town o(Kungur, in the government oi Kafafty in lat, 57. 20, runs north, and ends oppofite to the Waygatz ftreight, and rifes again in the ifle of Nova Zemlja. The Rujjians alfo call this range Smennoi Poiasy or the Girdle of the worldy from a fuppofition that it encircled the univerfe. Thefe were the Ripbai montes : Pars mundi damnata a natura rerunty et . den/a merja Caligine *, of which only the fouthern part was known to the antients, and that fo little as to give rife to numberlefs fables. Beybnd thefe were placed the happy Hyperhreiy a fiftion moft beautifully related by Pomponius Mela f. Moderns have not been behind-hand in exaggerat- ihg • PliniiHlft. Nat. lib. iv, c. 12. f In JJiatUo littore primi Hyperborei, fuper aquilonem Ripbao/que montes, fub ipfo fidenun cardine jacent ; ubi fol non quotidie> ut nobis, fed primiiin vcrno ^qoinoAio cxortiu, autamnali demum occidit ; et ided fex menfibus dies, & totidem aliis nox ufque Y csntinna i ctvm I ! Its height. MH UR^^LLIAN CHAIN. mg feveral circumftances relative to thefe noted hills. YJhrand Ides, who crofled them in his embafly to Chinay afferts that they are live thoufand toifes or fathoms high: others, that they are covered with eternal fnow. The laft may be true in their more northern parts i but in the uf'jal paflages over them, they are free from it three or four months. The heights of part of this chain have been taken by M. V Abbe d* Auteroche; who, with many aflurances of his accuracy, fays, that the height of the mountain Kyria, near Sd'kamjkaia, in lat. 60, does not exceed four hundred and feventy-one toifes from the level of the fea, or two hundred and eighty-fix from the ground on which it Hands*. But, according to M. Gmelin, the mountain Pauda is much higher, being feven hundred and fifty-two toifes above the feaf. From Peter/burg to this chain is a vaft plain, mixed with certain elevations or platforms, like ifiands in the midft of an ocean. The eaftern fide defcends gradually to a great diftance into the wooded and morafly Sibiriay which forms an immenfe in- clined plain to the Icy Sea. This is evident from all the great rivers taking their rife on that fide, fome at the amazing diftance of lat. 46- and, after a courfe of above twenty-feven degrees, fallinc. into- the Frozen ocean in lat. 73. 30. The Taik alone, which rifes near the louthern part of the eaftern fide, takes a fouthern diredlion, and drops into the Cafpian fea. The Dwina, the Peczora, and a few other rivers in European Rujfia, fhew the inclined plane of that part : all of them run to the nordiern fea; but their courfe is comparatively fhort. Another in- «;ontinua eft. Terra nngufta. aprica. per fe fertilis. Cultores juftiffimi. et diutiiis quam ulh mortahum & heaths vivunc. Quippe fefto fe^per atk, I«ti, non bella novere! no" jurg,a, facns operat.. maxime Apollinis, quorum primitias Ddon mi/ifle. initio per virgmes fuas, demde per populos fubinde tradentes ulterioribus ; moremque eum diu & donee vmo gentium temeratus eft. fervaffe referuntur. Habitant luces fylvafque' et ub. eos vxvend, fatietas magis quam ta^iium cepit, hilares, redimiti J^Xi ipfi m pelagus ex certa rupe pra^cipiti dant. Id eis funu, eximium eft. Lih. iii. hLj, ^'^'T T '^^ ^"'^"^^ '^'^'^ ^"^"'^ °^ °''"" See p. cix. only the •5 Vcj^g, Je la Sihcrie, u. 605. ^ Preface to FUr. Sibir. i. 54. clination II .If! ALTAIC CHAIN. CI.]X HOWDISTRI- BVTSD» clination direfts the Dnieper and the Bon into the Euxiney and the vaft Volga into the Cafpian Sea. The Altaic CbaiHy its fouthern boundary, which begins at the vaff Altaic Chaiw* mountain Bogdo, paffes above the head of the Irfi/chy and then takes a courfe rugged, precipitous, cloathed with fnaw, and rich in minerals, between the Irti/ch and Oh j then proceeds by the lake Telezkoi ; after which it »";tires, in order to comprehend the great rivers which form the Jenefeiy and are locked up in thefe high mountains j finally, under the name of the Saianes, is uninterruptedly continued to the lake of Baikal*. A branch infinuates itfelf between the fources of the rivers Onon and Ingcda, and thofe of Icbikei, accompanied with very high mountains, running without interruption to the north-eaft, and dividing the river of Amur, which difcharges itfelf into the eaft, in the Chinefe dominions, from the river Lena and lake Baikal. Another branch ftretches along the Olema, crofles the Lena below Jakoutjky and is con- tinued between the two rivers Tungu/ca to the Jenefei, where it is loft in wooded and moralfy plains. The princ ] -\il chain, rugged with fharp- pointed rocks, approaches and keeps near the fhores of the fea of Ocbofz, and pafling by the fources of the rivers Oufb, Aldan, and Maia, is diftri- buted in fmall branches, which range between the eaftern rivers which fall into the Icy Sea-, befides two principal branches, one of which, turning foutli, runs through all Kamtfchatka, and is broken, from the cape Lopatka, into the numerous Kurile ifles ; anH to the eaft forms another marine chain, in the iflands which range from Kamtfchatka to America ; moft of them, as well as Kamtfchatka itfelf, diftinguifhed by fierce vulcanoes, or the traces of vulcanic fires. The laft chain forms chiefly the great cape Tjchutjchiy with its prom.ontories and rocky broken fhores. 1 have fo far pillaged the labors of my friend ■{■, to trace the boundaries of the vaft region which has fo amply furniflied my Zoological part.— To that, and the Table of Quadrupeds, I refer the feveral pe- , culiarities of their fituations. • Obfervations fur la Fcrmation des Montagues, par P. S. Pallas« p. i8. t Do£U>i Pallas. Y 2 At: cix NOVA E M L J A. NoV,A ZUMLJA, At the northern end of the great Urallian chain, is the fTaygatz ftrcight, which cuts thern from Noivyia Zemlja, Nova Zemhla, or the New Land. Thepaflage is narrow, obftruded by iflands, and very frequently by ice. The flux and reflux is here uncertain, by reafon of the winds; buic the tide has been obferved to rife only four feet * : the depth from ten to fourteen fathoms. It was difcovered by Stephen Boroughs, in 1556, and the navi- gation was often attempted by the Dutch, in hopes of a pafliige that way to China. Continual obftrudions from the floating ice bafiled their defigns, and obliged them to return. Nova Zemlja confifts of five iflandsj but the channels between them are always filled with icef. It is quite uninhabited, but is occafionally fiequentcd by the people of Mefen, who go there to kill Seals, Walrufesj Araic Foxes, and White Bears, the fole animals of the place, excepting a few Rein Deer. Attempts have been made to find a way to the Eaft Indies to the north of itj but with equal bad fuccefs as through the JVaygatz. Barentz]ui\: doubled the caftern end in 1596; fufi'ered fliip- wreck there with his crew; and paflTed there a mofl: miferable winter, continually befieged by the Polar Bears: feveralof the crew died of the fcurvy or excefs of cold j the furvivors made a veflel of the remains of their ihip, and arrived fafe in Europe the following yearj but their great pilot funk under the fatigue %. The fouthern coafts of thefe iflands are in a manner unknown. Between them and the continent is the Kara fea, which forms a deep bay to the fouth, in which the tide has been obferved to flow two feet nine inches. Fifliing people annually come here from the Peczora through the Waygatz, for the fake of a fmuggling trade in furs with the Samoieds of the govern mcnt of robolJkiW. In the reign of the Emprefs Mne, attempts were made to double the great cape Jalmal, between the gulph of Kara and that of the Ob-, one of which (in 1738) only fucceeded, and that after encountering the greatefl: diflicultics §. Had the difcovery • Hackluyt, i. 282, delated by Dt Veer. t Doflor Pallas. t See this curious voyage, as Pallas. ^ Coxt^s Ruffian Difcaveriu, 306. of RIVERS OB AND IRTISCH. CLXt o^Sibiria depended on its approach by fea, it might have ftill remained unknown. In the gulph of Kara are taken the Salmo Kundjha^ Pallas Itin. III. No. 46; the Nawaga, a fort of Whiting j Salme Jutumnalis or Omul i PhuroneSfes Gladalisi and the Cottus Scorpius, Rumjha, or Fadier-lafher, Br, Zool. III. No. 99. The mouth of the Ob lies in a deep bay, which opens into the Icy Sea^ The river Ob. in lat. 73. 30. This is the firft and grcateft of the Sibirian rivers: it rifes from the Jltiney or, as the Ruffians call it, the Tekzkoi, a large lake fituated in about lat. 52, has a gentle courfe through eight hundred leagues of country, and is navigable almoft to its fource*, and abounds with filh. It is fed with multitudes of rivers: among others, the great river Irtt/cb falls into it in lat. Ci. At the jun6lion the Ob divides into two channels, and runs feparated for a great fpace; unites again, and near Berefow its ftream is broken hy numbers of fmall ifles. Near Obdorojkoe Oftrog it takes an eaftern courfe, and difcharges itfelf into the great bay of the fame name. The Irtijch has alfo a moft extenfivc courfe. It rifes in lat. 47, runs Irtijob. through the great lake Tai/an, takes a north-wcfterly direftion, and, among multitudes of other rivers, receives, in lat. 58. 12, the great Toboli and on the forks of thefe two rivers, on the northern fide of the Irtijch^ Hands 'ToboU the prefent capital of Sibiria. The banks of the Irtijch and Obi and other Sibirian rivers, are, in many places, covered with immenfe forefts, growing on a foft foilj which being torn up by the re- fiftlefs force of the vaft fragments of ice brought down by the torrents occafioned by the melting of the fnows, are conveyed into the Icy and other feas, and form the drift-wood I have before fpoken of. The channel of the O^, from its fource to the iC^/, isftony: from that river to the mouth it runs through a fat land. After it has been frozen fome time, the water grows foul and fetid. This' is owing to the vaft AnnualStench OF THE Ob. * Gmelitt Introd. FL^ib, vi\. xxx. By Leuca he feems to mean a Verfl, of which 104^ make a degree. See cxxiii. and Mr. Coxe^t RuJJian Di/coverits, Intrtd, xiii< morafle* M: CLXIZ RIVER JENESEI. Hi f) ,i m morafles it in fome places goes through, to the flownefs of the currcnr, and to the earib -/alt (erdfaltz) with which fome of the rivers which run into it are impregnated. The fi(h therefore, in certain feafons, fiivin the waters of the Ob, and refort in vaft fhoals to the mouths of thofe rivers which rufli into it from ftony countries, and in fuch places are taken in great abundance. This ftench continues- till the river is purified in the fpring by the melting of the fnow. The ^azy another river which empties itfelf into the eaft of the gulph of Ob, is liable to the fame impurity. JiHissi River. The Jenefei next -eeds. Mr. Gmelin, as a naturalift, would confider this as the boundary between Europe and AJia. From its eaftern banks every thing puts on a new appearance : a certain new and unufual vigour reigns in every thing. The mountains, which to the weftward, as far as the Urallian chain, appeared only fcattered, now take full poffeffion* and are interfperfed with moft beautiful vallies. New animals, fuch as the Argali and Musk; Garlic Rat, Hiji. ^ad. II. N»3I5j Mus Liriopbagus, Pallas MS. Caf.; the Hare-tailed Rat, Hifi. ^uad. II. N° 320. Perhaps the Oeconomicy N' 313. and the Pygmy Shrew, N° 344. begin to fhew themfelves, as does the Ibex, after the long interval of the vaft traft between this country and the Carpathian mountains. Many new birds alfo appear : fuch as the Strix Barbata, Pallas MS. Latham, Suppl. N'' 43 -, White-browed Blackbird, Turdus Leucopbrysy Pallas Itin. III. 694. Latham, III. 31 ; Red-faced Flycatcher, Mujcicapa fronte rubra, Pallas MS. Latham, III. 351 j Sibirian Whinchat, Motacilla Montanella, Itin. III. e^c^. and MS. j M. Calliope, Itin. III. 697. and MS.; Ruby-throat, Ar£l. Zool. which fings moft exquifitely in the middle of the night j M. Cyanura, Itin. II. 709. Latham, IV. 459; White-winged Lark, MS. Alauda Calandra, Itin. II. 708 i Black Pigeon, MS. leffer than the Turtle Dovej Long- tailed Groft)eak, MS. Loxia Sibirica, Itin. II. 711 j Pine Bunting, Emberiza Pithyorus, Itin. II. 710. Latham, III. 203; Cia. Emb. Cia. MS. Latham, III. 191 j and, finally, the Falcated Duck, Jr£i, ZoaL Itin. III. 701. Many LAKEBAIKAL. CLXIII Many European plants difappear, and others, peculiar to y^^, gradnally mark the alteration*. Such are the Robinia Pygmaa, Flora. Rofl. 71. tab. xlv. Rob. frutefcens — 69. xliii. Spiraa Trikbata — 33. xvi. Sp. Salicifolia — 2^. xxi. Rhododendron Dauuricum — 47. xxxii. Populus Balfamifera — 67. xlvii. and numbers of others. I am inclined to think, that the commencement of Afiatic plants is about the O^, for I obferve that the Robinia caragana, Fl. Sib. iv. 17. and a few more, begin to fhew themfelves on the eaftern fide of that vaft river j but, in fadt, they appear in force only beyond the Jenefei. This river is fcarcely inferior to the Ob. It rifes from the two rivers Ulx-kem and Bei-kenty in north lat. 51. 30, long. 1 11, and runs due north into the /fy ^^ »f»a, Sw„t Willow, SM, pntanJra; White vV .How Sal.. Ma. are very frequent. The Hazel, Coryl.s AvMana, i. c,rcun,ftanced l,kc the Oak. The Common Birch, B„ula alia, i, moft abundant ; and, as in all northern nations, of univerfal ufe. The Dwarf Bnch, Bejula nana, is confined to the neighborhood of lake Baikal. The Alder, B,,ulaAlnus. is very frequent. The Pinafter, Pinus Pin,a: the Pme w.th ed,b^ ieeds. or «„». Cemira-. and Larch. Pinu. Lari.-. ,11 Tou trv x^ Ar '• ""f"""^ "' '^"""'"''"'^- "ver many parts of the country. The JWro-.,^ F,r, Pimj Abla. and the Silver Fir. Pinu, Pica form, in moft parts of the country, great forefts : the firft grows in this country not farther north than lat. 60, the laft not higher than lat. j8: ye the former flounlhes ,n Eurcp,. and compofcs in Lat<«<'rk. far beyond oL K ™;'^;"~''' of great extent: a proof of the fuperior rigLof cold ,n the Afiauc north. Thefe form the fum of £,r^.«/trees growing m Sihna. Of other plants, common to both continents, M. GmL gives the reader ,n p. xciv. of his Preface, a Oender lift of fuch which fell un- ucr his obfervation. Europe is obliged to SiHria for that excellent fpecies of Oat the A.ena Sillri^a. Fl. Sib. i. .,3. tab. ... Lin. Sp. pl. i. „;,?„"' * gardens are ,n a moft peculiar manner enlivened with the gay and brilliant flowers introduced from that diftant and fevere climate. I ftall only fe. lea a few out of the multitude*, yeronica Siiirica. Iris Siiiri J. Fl. b.b.1.58. Eryngmm planum, i.iSi. Lilium bulbifcrum.L ^u L mm t""»m.u +2. L. Marlagon. i. 44. mthinium grandijlorum. Sp. PI. i 749. Erytbrmum dens cams. ," 35. tab. 7. Hemerocallis fiava. \. „ Sa.,frasacraJifoUa. Sp. PI. i. 573. Lychnis chalccdmica, Sp. PI i. 62 m,n,a modcndrcn, Fl. Roff. 7.. tab. xlvi. Pyrus taccla, Fl. Roff pi 7: ' p''' ^^'^'"'^ '"■'■^'"*"'- ^P- !■'• 642. Amygdalus nana, Sp.' PI. .. 767. Ad.ns vcrnalis, Sp. PI. i. 77,. ^^„^,,,, ./„^„,-^,;, 4; ar.'a™;rdrz;r""'"' '° ■"' '>■ "" "'" ''°""''" '- ' '"""""f -^^p'- PI. 1* S C H U T S C M I. PI. ii. 1064. IfyperUum jifcyren, Sp. Pi. ii. 1102. Ech'tHtps Ritro, Fl. Sib. ii. 100. Veratrum nigrum, Fl. Sib. i. 76. After the conqucft o( Sibiria, the Xfcbutfibi were tlie firft people difco- vered by the Ruffians, who were indebted to the adventure of Defcbnew for the knowlegc of them, lliey arc a free and brave race, and in fize and figure faperior to every neighboring nation ; tall, ftout, and Fnt-ly made, and with long and agreeable countenances j a race infulated ftrangely by a lefler variety of men. They wear no beards. Their hair is black, and cut ihort, and covered either with a clofe cap, or hood large rno .gh tb cover ihe fhoulders. Some hang beads in their ears, but none have the barb?t Ifm to bore either nofes or lips. They wear a fhort and clofe frock, breeches, and (hort boots : fome have trowfers. The materials of their cloathing is leather admirably drefled, either with or without the hair *. It is faid that at times they wear jackets made of the inteftines of Whales f, like the E/kimaux j probably when they go to fea, for they excel their neigh- bors in filhing, and ufe open boats covered with fkins |, and like the wo- men's boats of the Greenlanders, They have alfo the lefler or kajak. They make ufe of fledges, &nd have large fox-like dogs of different colors, with long foft woolly hair, which are probably deligned for the draught. Some fay that they ufe Rein-deer, of which they have vaft abundance, but neither milk them nor kill them for food, preferring the flefli of fea animals, ex- cept one dies by chance, or is killed by the Wolves. They are a fpirited and warlike people; arc armed with bows and arrows; the laft pointed with ftone or bone. They have fpontoons headed with fteel, procured by traffic from the Ruffians -, thefe they ufually fling over their right flioul- der; and a leathern quiver of moft elegant workmanfliip hangs over the left §. The Ruffians have often gained dear-bought vidories over this brave people, but never were able to effed their conqueft. They retained an high fenfe of liberty, and conftantly refufed to pay tribute j and the ambitious European mifcalled them rebels. They will not on any con- CLnXT TsCHUTSCHU • Cook''s Voyage, ii. 450, tab. 51. S See tab. 51 of the Voyage, t Hiji. Kamtfchatka, Fr. B b \ Voyage, ii. 452. fideration m CLXXXII T S C H U T S C H I. .1 ^ i- 3 ; \ I •'H Their Dwsl* LINGS. fideration part with their weapons : pofllbly a Xfchutfcbi may think a dif- armed man difhonored. Captain Cook, in his three hours vifit to them, found their attachment to their arms, notwithftanding they willingly parted with any thing elfe, and even without the profped: of exchange. They treated him with great civility, but prudent caution : faluted him by bowing and pulling off their caps, poffibly a piece of politenefs they learr.ed from the Ruffians. They treated him with a fong and dance, and parted friends j but not without a moft remarkable and confequential cv°nt : — A year after the interview between Captain Cook and the Tfchutfcbi, a party of thefe people came to the frontier poft of the Ruf- fian, y and voluntarily offered friendfhip and f?ibute. Thefe generous people, whom fear could not influence, were overcome by the civility and good conduft of our illuftrious commander : they miftook him and his people for Ruffians, and, imagining that a change of behaviour had taken place, tendered to their invaders a lafting league *. Poffibly the munifi- cent emprefs may blufh at the obligation conferred by means of Britijh fubjefts, in procuring to her empire a generous ally, at the inftant her armed neutrality contributed to deprive us of millions of lawful fub- jedls. Their winter dwellings were vaulted, and funk a little under ground. The framing was compofed of wood and the ribs of Whales i more flender materials were laid over the roof, over them ftrong grafs, and above all, a ftrong covering of earth : above them was a fort of centry-box, made of the bones of large fifli. The frames of the fummer huts were flight poles and bones. The ftages for drying of fifli were compofed of the laft ma- terial. This is not by any means a new fpecies of architedlure. The commanders of the fleet of Alexander the Great obferved, that the Gedroft, a people living on the gulph of Sind in India^ made the frames of their doors, and their rafters, of the bones of Whales f. How often are the hif- tories of the antients, deemed fabulous, verified by our modern difco- vertes ! ]^^ i yey.iii. ziy. t Pli«. Hift. Nat. lib. ix. c. 3. From TSCHUTSCHI. CLXXXIII COUNT OF IT, t'rom the fliortnefs of the interview little knowlege could be gained of their cuftoms. I fhall only obferve, that they bury their dead under heaps of (tones, or carnedds : feveral were feen here with the rib of a whale on the top inftead of a pillar*; a proof of the univerfality of thefe memo- rials of the dead. I Ihall endeavour to make fome addition to the accounts of the Xfchut- fchi given by Captain Cooky from two relations preferved in the Neue Nor- ■dijche Beytrage j as any thing relative to fo remote a people cannot but be acceptable. The firft is from the journal of the Cofack Nicolai Daurkin ; who, by Da u* kin's Ac private diredion from his commander, feigned a defertion from the Ruf- fian poft on the Anadyr, to the neareft poft of the %fchutfchi, was well re- ceived by them, and continued with them from July 20th, 1763, to the winter of the fame year. This journal relates chiefly to the ifles interme- diate between Jfia and America, in Behrino's ftreight. In OSfober, when the fea between the Aftatic and American land was frozen, he procured a fledge and a couple of Rein-deer, and, attended by one of the Tfhutfchi, who had adopted him as a kinfman, pafled over to the firft ifland, and arrived there in five or fix hours. The inhabitants received them very kindly j but inftantly aflced for tobacco leaves ; which being prefent- ed to them, they in return prefented the travellers with fome of their cloathing made of furs. The natives wore drefles made of the (kins of Uein-deer ; and lived on the fle(h of Whales, Walrufes, and Seals. For want of wood, they dre(red their food by means of lamps, made of a ftonc hollowed on the top, into which they poured train-oil, and into that they put a wick made of a foft mofs, a fort o( fphagnum or bogmofs, tied with firings, made of the bowels of animals : with thefe lamps they not only dreffed their meat, but alfo warmed themfelves. The natives of this iflc are called by the Tfchutfchi, Achiilaet. On the fecond ifle live the fame kind of people, who call it Pejerkely. The chief of them bore each fide of the lips of their children, and intro- AND OP AMg« RICA. • Ellii'i Nairative, I. 332. Bb 2 duce CLxxxiy i!'i< i " TWOVISITSTO duce into them pieces of the teeth of the Walrus : in other refpe^s, they are cloathed hke the^natives of the firfl ifle. Thefe were the two iflands by him. Thefe people had intercourfe with the r/cbuf/cbi ; for in one of the engagements which Colonel Paulufzki had with them in 173,, he defcled' '^' '""''^'" '""'"^ '^" ^'^" *' ^"^ ^'' ^'^' ^'"'"^ ^'^'^^'^ Daurkin mentions two ranks of T/cbut/cbi ; one who have herds of Rein-deer, and others which have none, the lail live in holes below ground, and fubllft on the ileih of fea animals entirely : but the others, in certain feafons, apply themfelves to the chace of Sea Bears, Walrufcs, Whales and Belugas, or the White Dolphin. ' The fecond journal was made by Iwa„ RM/, a Ka/ak Smik, or a C^ac. who commanded a hundred men. In ,779 he was difpatched, hke the former as a fpy into the country of Xr^huifchi , on the .oth of May he reached the SerJze kamen, in the bay of Notjcban. He obfcrved there that die natives poiTefled of Rein-deer treated thofe who had none as th^ Ruffians do their vaflals, and obliged them to filh for them, and to fur mlh them with train-oil, and the flefh of Sea-horfes , for which they fupl plied them widi that of the Rein-deer. ^ ^ rr^^r'^'^^'^'-T^'^r''"'^ '^' "^"^^^ ^^'^^^^-^ ^"d fro- thence croffed a bay, eight verfts broad, to the village mrnegin : here the Vchutjcbt mentioned to him the arrival of Captain Cook, in 1778 and the intercourfe, as related by Captain Cook, in vol. II. p. 447 of hi! voyage. Robelef fixes the latitude of the place where he received his ac- count in 65 48, and in longitude ao6. jo. The ^ame people remem- bered alfo the vifit paid to them by Bebring, feveral years before, when forty of the natives vifited his Ihips in four leathern boats. Two impor!! tant circumftances in the annals of the country. Robelef alfo vifited the two intermediate ifles : one he calls Imoglin, %hich was five verfts long, and two broad. It had two villages, contain- • Decouvcrtca faites par les kujfes, 1. 17a. ing '*4U. THE T S C H U T S C H I, ing two hundred and three males, and a hundred and ninety-five female inhabitants. It lay forty verfts from the Jftatic (hore. The fecond iQe he calls ^elgin: its length was three verfts j its breadth one and an half: its diftance from Imoglifty three verfts j from America about thirty. Its number of inhabitants eighty-five males, and fcventy-nine females. The chief of this ifle was a native q( America, He affured RobeUf oi a faft too curious to be omitted— that there wa» a colony o( Ruffians, which have been long fetded on that continent: thac they are diftinguifhed from the Americans by their long beards, and by their language : that they can write, fay their prayers out of books, and worlhip pidures. Rohelef ytiihtd earneftly that the chieftain would bring him over to his countrymen ; but was told he did not dare to do it, leaft Robelef fhould come to any mifchance, for which he fhould be anfwerable to the ^/chutfchi. Robelef was alfo told by a Xfchutjehiy who had formerly crofled to America for the fake of trade, and made acquaintance with a peifon, who afterwards vifited him in the idt of Imoglin, and brought to him a board, on which was written on one fide red charafters, on the other black -, and faid he had it from people with beards, who defired him to deliver it to the Ruffians who were in garrifon at Anadirjk', and that the purport of it was to obtain iron from them. The Ruffians of that garrifon had a tradi- tion, that out of feven kotcbes' or veffcls, which once failed from the mouth of the Lena, along the coafts of the Icy Sea, to double the TJchutJchi point, three were never more heard of. Thefe they be- lieve to be the founders of this colony : but whether it has any bet- ter foundation than the ftory of the Weljh fettlement in North Ame* ricoy by the fons of Owen Gwynedd, in 1170, appears to me a matter of great doubt. Robelef informs us, that there is no vifible ebb or flow in the Streightsof Behring, and only a moderate current, running in fummer from the Eaftern ocean northward into the Icy fea, and about Auguft turns to the fouth, and brings with it the floating ice. He adds, that the tide ore the TJchutJchi-nofs flows (u feet. cftxrx*^ mm% cixxxvr MIGRATION OF THE REIN-DEER. The Xfchutjchi gave Robelcf much information refpefting the topo- graphy of the oppofite coaft of Jmerica: from thefe accounts a map* is formed (with the afllftance of that by Captain Cook), in which is placed a vaft river, emptying itfeliT into the Icyfea a little to the fouth of Cape Mulgrave-, then making a bend foutherly, and taking a very long courfe in that direftion. Its banks are made as full of towns and villages (all of them named), as the banks of the Uames i nor are the coafts, from Its mouth to Norton found, made lefs populous ; and thofe from point Shallow Heater to Sboalnefs vie in that refped with all the pre- ceding. As Captain Cook met with no fuch marks of population, I muft fufpend my belief till thefe coafts have been farther explored; which the fpirit of curiofity, which now reigns, makes me not defpair of feeing efFeded. The Xfchtttfchi country is overgrown with yellow and white mofs, which nourifhes vaft flocks of wild Rein-deer. Thefe animals are accuf- tomed, in May or June, as foon as the Anadyr is clear from ice, to fwim over the river by thoufands, to the cold woodlefs countries towards the Icy fea, to fave themfelves from infedts ; and they retire again in yiugufi ind the beginning of September, to the woods to change their horns! The neighboring inhabitants take the advantage of their migration, to kill great numbers of them for their provifions. The people are at this time particularly careful to avoid making much noife, or caufing fmoke in thofe parts where the Rein-deer pafs ; and watch the firft harbingers of their arrival. The hunters aflemble in fmall boats, and when the herd of Rein-deer is croffing the river, they row amongft them, and kill with lances as many as they can, which amount often to feveral hun- dreds. The herds crowd, during three whole days, fo clofe toge- ther, that they cannot efcapej but after that fpace the whole march is over, except by chance a fingle deer is now and then feen. The greateft number of Rein-deer killed in this encounter are females (Wajhenh), which cannot fo eafily make their efcape, with their young See vol. IV. oiNm Nordi/cht^eytragt, and the whole narration, at p. 105. ones. TSCHUTSCHr. CLXXXVII ones, as the bucks, who are always foremoft, and retire therefore fooner. The Rein-deer in thefe eaftern parts are in general much fmaller than elfe- where in Sibiria, the largeft buck weighing no more than four puds, and a female about two and a half. The flefh, which is drieri for preferving, is tied together in bunches, which contain two deer, and each bunch weighs a pud and half or two puds *. The country of the T/chut/chi forms the moft north-eafterly part o^ Jfta. It is a peninfula, bounded by the bay of TchaoHn, by the Icy Sea, the ftreights of Behring, and the gulph and river oi Jnadir, which open into the fea o( Kamtjchatka. It is a mountanous traft, totally deftitute of wood, and confequently of animals which require the fhelter of forefts. The' promontory Schalotjkoi, before mentioned, is the moft wefterly part. Whether it extends fo far north as lat. 74, as the Ruffians place it, is very doubtful : there is the opinion of our great navigator againft it. From his own reafonings he fuppofed that the tradl from the Indigirjka, eaftward, is Corrections in laid down in the maps two degrees to the northward of its true poHtion f. c apt.'cooV, " From a map he had in his poflcffion, and from information he received from the Ruffians, he places the mouth of the Kowyma in lat. 68, inftead of lat. 71. 20, as the Peterjburg map makes it. It is therefore probable, that no part of /ifta in this neighborhood extends further than lat. 70, in which we muft place the Schalotjkoi Nofs; and, after the example of Mr. Camphellt who formed his map of this country chiefly from tne papers of Captain Behring f, give the land which lies to the eaft of that promontory a very fouthern trend. As Captain Cook had caufe to imagine that the former charts erred in longitude as well as lati- tude, it is probable that he reached within fixty miles of the Scba^ lotjkoi Nofs%. There we find him on Auguft 29th, 1778, and from this period are enabled, from his remarks, to proceed fecurely ac- curate. After croffing the Icy Sea from the moft extreme part of the coaft of • A pud is 40 Ruffian pounds, or 36 Engllfi Mr. Coxe, J InHarrii'f Voy, ii. 1016. § F'yage, iii, 270, t Voyagi, iiL 268. Amerkc- ■ % ^m !&t^l H i . r S^ili^H 1 ^ifS P 'I'sf'^fl '^"ifl ijli; Jl ULUXSLViU I C Y S fi A. Cape North. BuRNEv'slSLE. jimerica which he could attain, he fell in with land. It appeared low near the fea, and high inland ; and between both lay a great like. To a deep and rocky point, nearly in lat. 68. s6. and long. i8o. 51, his neplus ultra on the 4fiatk fide, he gave the name o(Cape North i beyond which he could not fee any land, notwithftanding t^e weather was pretty clear. The fea, at three miles diftance from the Ihore, was only eight fathoms deep • this, with arifingwind, approaching fog, and apprehenfion of the coming down of the ice, obliging him to defift from farther attempts in thefe parts he proceeded as near to the coaft as he could with prudence, towards the fouth-eaft, and found it retain the fame appearance. In lat. 67. 4c he difcovered a fmall ifle, about three leagues from the main, with fteep and rocky Ihores, on which he beftowed the name of Burney, in honor of one of his officers; gratefully immortalizing the companions of his voyage, in this and other inftances. After paffing the ifland, the conti- nent inland rofe into mountains of confiderable height, the termination of the great chain I before defcribed. In lat. 67. 3, long. ,88. 1 1, he fell in with Serdze Kamen », a lofty pro- montory, faced towards the fea with a fteep rocky cliff. To the eaftward the coaft continues high and bold, towards the North Cape low, bein- a C.PT B.„ continuation ofthe^r^;V flats. This was the northern limit of the voylc^e C.PT.BHHRi.o. f another illuftrious navigator, Captain Vitus Bbhkikg, a DaJet birth, and employed on the fame plan of difcovery in thefe parts as our great countryman was in the late voyage. He was in the fervice of Peter the Great ; who, by the ftrength of an extenfive genius, conceiving an opinion of the vicinity of America to his ^ftatic dominions, laid down a plan of difcovery worthy of fo extraordinary a' monarch, but died before the attempt was begun ; but his fpirit furvived in his fucceflbr. Behrino after a tedious and fatiguing journey through the wilds of ^/^,W^, arrived in Kamtjchatka, attended with the fcanty materials for his voyage the thoufand difficulues. Several of the circumftances of his adventures will Serdze Kamen. • See tab. 84 of the Fojagt. be B E H R I N G'S S T R E I G H T S. CLXXXIX be occafionally mentioned *. I fhall only fay here, that he failed from the river oi Kamtjchatka on July 15th, 1728} on the 15 th of Auguji faw Serdze Kamen, or the heart-lhaped rock, a natT>e beftowed on it by the firft difcoverer. From Serdze Kamen to a promontory named by Captain Cook Eafl East Capb. Cape -ft the land trends fouth-eaft. The laft is a circular peninfula of high cliffs, projefting far into the fea due eaft, and joined to the land by a long and very narrow ifthmus, in lat. 66. 6. This is the %fchutfchi Nojs of our navigators, and forms the beginning of the narrow ftreights or divifion j BEHUMc'g of the old from the new world. The diftance between JJia and America in Streights. this place is only thirteen leagues. The country about the cape, and to the north-weft of it, was inhabited. About mid-channel are two fmall iflands, named by the Ruffians the ifles of St. Diomedes -, neither of them above three or four leagues in circuit |. It is extremely extraordinary that Behrino ftiould have failed through this confined pafTage, and yet that the object of his miffion Ihould have efcaped him. His misfortune could only be attributed to the foggy weather, which he muft have met with in a region notorious for mifts § ; for he fays that he faw land neither to the north nor to the eaft f . Our generous commander, determined to give him every honor his merit could clame, has dignified thefe with the name of Behring's Streights. The depth of thefe ftreights is from twelve to twenty-nine or thirty Depth. fathoms. The greateft depth is in the middle, which has a ftimy bottom; the ftialloweft parts are near each (hore, which confifts of fand mixed with bones and (hells. The current or tide very inconfiderable, and what there Current. was came from the weft. From Eaji Cape the land trends fouth by weft. In lar. 6$. 26^ is the bay in which Captain Cook had the interview with the T/cbutJchi. Imme- • The account of the voyage is extremely worthy of perufal, and is prcfcrved by the able Dodlor Caw/^^//, in Harris's CoUe^ion,u, 1018. t See tab. 84 of the Voyage. % See the Chart of them. Voyage, vol. ij. tab, 53. II Voy. ii. 445. iii. 243. § Voyage ii. 470, and Meteorolog. Tables, iii. App. 512. 513, 520, 521. f[ Harris's Coll, ii. 1020. Cc diately cxo ISLES OF CLERKE AND ST. LAURENCE. diatcly beyond is the bay of St. Laurencs, about five leagues broad in the entrance, and four deep, bounded at the bottom by high land. A little beyond is a large bay, either bounded by low land at the bottom, or fo ex- tenfive as to have the end invifible. To the fouth of this are two other bays; and in lat. 64. 13, long. 186. 36, is the extreme fouthern poinr of the land of the T/cbut/cbi. This formerly was called the u^ftadir/koi Nofs. Near it Behrino had converfation with eight men, who came ofF to him in a baidar, or boat covered with the (kins of Seals; from which BsHRiNo and others have named it the ^^i>«(/i:i;;iVeA. A few leagues to isL.soK^CtERKE the fouth-caft of this point lies Gierke's ifland,in lat. 63. 15, difcoveredby St.Laursnce. Captain Cook ; and immediately beyond a larger, on which Behrino bellowed the name of St. Laurence : the laft, the refort of the T/chutfchi m their fifliing parties *. Both of thefe conf.ft of high cliffs, joined by low land. A fmall idand was feen about nineteen leagues from St. Laurence\ in a north-eaft by eaft halfeaft direftion; I fufpeft it to be that which Capt. Cook named AnderJon\, in memory of his furgeon, who died off it, and from his amiable charafter feems to have well merited this memorial! It lies in lat. 63.4, long. 192. An anonymous iCet, imperfcftly ittviy. and lying in lat. 64. 24, long. 190. 31, in mid-channel, completes the fum of thofe feen remote from land between the ftreights and the iiie of St. Laurence. As to thofe named in the chare given by Lieut. Synd, who in 1764 made a voyage from Kamtfchatka towards Behring's Streights, they feem to exift only in imagination, notwithftanding the Ruffian calendar has been exhaufted to find names for them. St. Jga- tkofty St. 7'iius, St. MyroM, and many others, fill the fpace paffed over by Capt. Cook, and which could not have efcapcd the notice of his facceffor j-. The land from Bebrino's Tfebui/Xri No/s trends vaftly to the weft, and bounds on that fide the vaft gulph of^«^^/>, into the bottom of which • Mulltr's Toy. cksRuJfes, i. 1484 Vcj.vL 503. f Coxt's Rujpan Difioverj Map, p. 300.— the K A M T S C H A T K A. ' Ihe river of the fame name empties itfelf, and limits the territory of the Xfchutjcbi, , From thence is a large extent of coaft trending fouth-weft from Cape St. thaddeus, in lat. 62. 50, long. 180, the fouthern boundary of the gulph oiAnaSr, to Oljutorjhi Ncjs, beyond which the land retires full weft, and forms in its bofom a gulph of the fame name. Off rhaddeus Nofs appear- ed, on June a9th, abundance of Walruses and Great Seals j and even the wandering Albatross was feen in this high latitude *. Between this and the Penginjk gulph, at the end of the fca oiOchotJk, is the ifthmus which unites the famous peninfula of Kamtjchatka to the main land, and is here about a hundred and twenty miles broad, and extends in length from 52 to 61, north lat. The coafts are often low: often faced with cliffs, m many parts of an extraordinary height 5 and out at fea are rude and fpiring rocks, tlie haunts of Leonine Seals, whofe dreadful roarings are frequently the prefervation of mariners, warning them of the danger, \n the thick fogs of this climate f. The coaft has but few harbours, notwithftanding it juts frequently into great headlands. The raoft remarkable are, the North Head, with its needle rocks, at the entrance of the bay of Awatcha (Voyag^i, vol. iii. tab. 58); Cheepoonjkoi Nofs, ftiU further north, engraven in vol. ii. tab. 84; and Krmotjkoi Nofs, with its lofty cliffs. The peninilila widens greatly in the middle, and leflens aJmoft to a point at Cape Lopatka, which Hopes into a low flat, and forms the fouthern ex- ':iemity of the country. The whole is divided lengthways by a chain and ungenial Ikies, merits that name. Rye, barley, and oats, are com- mitted to the earth, but feldom come to perfeftion. The fubfiflience of xht Ruffians and Cojfacks depends therefore on importation from Sibiria, In fome parts grafs grows to a great height, and hay of uncommon nutriment is harvefted for the fattening of cattle §. Grain is a luxury for the colonifts only: the natives have other refources, the efl^eft& of neceffity. Excepting in few places, this is a land of incorrigible barrennefs. As foon as the Sea Otters and other precious furs are • Defer. Kamfcb. Fr. 340, 34,. f Voyage, iii. 206, 332. J Defer. Kamt/tb. Fr. 3^, and tab. iv- '•. in which are given the courfe of the warm ftreanw. § %. iii. 3 27. exhaufted> KAMTSCHATKA. CKCIH exhauftcd, Kamtjchatka will be defertcd by the Ruffians^ unlcft they fhould think fit to colonize the continent oi America^ which the furs of that country, or the profpeft of mineral wealth, may induce them to attempt. Few ores have as yet been difcovered in this peninfula : not that it wants either copper or iron ; but every neceflary in thofe metals is imported at fo cheap a rate, that it is not worth while for a people ignorant in mining and fmelting to fearch for them in the almoft inac- celfible mountains. From the climate and the barren nature of Kamtjchatka^ the reader need not be furprizcd at the poverty of its Flora. It muft not be fuppofed that the fcanty enumeration of its plants arifes from a negleft of fearch, or the want of a botanill to explore its vegetable kingdom. Steller, a firft-rate naturalift of Germany, •w\iO attended Behrino in his laft voyage, rcfided here a confiderable time after his efcape from that unfortunate expedition, exprefsly to complete his remarks in natural hiftory. The refult of his botanical refearches was communicated to Doftor Gmelin, another gentleman fent by the Ruffian government, to examine into the natural hiftory of its dominions. Europe has from time to time been ranfacked for men of abilities to perform this meritorious miflion, and the fruits of their labors have been liberally communicated to a public thirfting for knowlege. The names of Muller, Gmelin, Steller, De L'Isle, Krashaninicoff, Guildenstaedt, Lepechin, and Pal- las, will ever be held in refpeft, for adding to the ftock of natural knowlege. But how much is it to be lamented that England wants a patron to encourage the tranflation of their works, locked up at prefent in Ruffian or Germany concealed from the generality of readers, to the great fuppreflion of knowlege ! I here give a lift of the plants of Kamtjchatka in fyftematic order j and from it annex an account of the ufcs made of them by the natives of the peninfula. I muft not omit my thanks to the Rev. Mr. Lightfootj and the Rev. Mr. Hugh Davies of Beaumaris, for the great affiftance I re- ceived from them. Let mc premife, that the plants marked J, are com- mon Oust; Plant*; feen in numbers in about lat. 59. 48, off the northern part of the peninfula. Kamtjchatka is deftitute of every fpecies of ferpent and frog. Lizards Reptiles. are very frequent, and are detefted by the natives, who believe them to be fpies fent by the infernal gods to examine their adlions, and predidt their deaths. If they catch one, they cut it into fmall pieces, to prevent it from giving any account of its miflion : if it efcapes out of their hands, they abandon themfelves to melancholy, and expeft every moment their diflblution ; which often happens through fear, and ferves to confirm the fuperftition of the country §. The air is very unfavorable to infefts, ex- cept lice and fleas, which are in all their quarters j and, filthy to relate ! are Insects. • Voy.\\\. iif<^. + By fome typographical miilake, the greater part of the tuehbed-footed birds are, in the firft edition, ^jlaced under the divifion of clo'ven-footed. The naturalifi reader will eafily fee, that the birds, from Crane, p. 357, to Pied Oyster-Catcher, ought to be placed in the divifion o( cloven-footed ; and from Great Tern, p. 356, to Red- faced CoRVORANT, p. 357, (hould be put after Red-throated Diver, p. 358, the nuebbed-footed. X Narrati've, ii. 246. § Defer. Kamtfeh. Fr. 509. eaten CCIV Fish. Whale, KAMTSCHATKA. eaten by thefe beaftly people *. Bugs are acquifitions of late years, im. ported into the bay of Awatcba. The ^iho^Kamt/chatka are with difficulty enumerated. There does notfeem to be any great variety of genera, yet the individuals under tach fpecies are found in moft aftonifhing abundance. Providence hath been peculiarly attentive to the natives of this peninfula, by furnilhina them mfo ample a manner, who for the greater part muft for ever be deprived of fupport derived from grain and cattle. The vegetables thev have are fufficient to corred the putrefcent quality of the dried fiih, and often form an ingredient in the difhes, which are prepared different ways. The Joukola ,s made of the falmon kind, cut into fix pieces, and dried either in the open air or fmoked: the roes are another difh in high efteem with them, either dried in the air, or rolled in the leaves of different plants, and dried before the fire. They can live a long time on a fmali quantity of this food, and eat with it the bark of birch or willow trees, to affift them in fwallowing a food fo very vifcid; but their ambrofial repaft is the Huigul, or hfh flung into a pit till it, is quite rotten, when it is fervcd up in the ftate of carrion, and with a ftench unfupportable to every nofe but that of a Kami/cbadaie -f. The Fin Whale, Br. Zool. iii. N' ,8, is very frequent, and is of fingular ufe to the inhabitants. They eat the flefh, preferve the fat for kitchen ufe and for their lamps , with the corneous lamins they few the feams of their canoes, and make nets for the larger fort of fifh ; they form the Aiders of their fledges with the under jaw-bones, and likewife work them into knives ; with the blade-bones, worked down to a fliarp edge, they form fcythes, and moft fuccefsfully mow the grafs. The XTcibut/chi verify the re- lation of P% t and, like the Gedrofi of old, frame their dwellings with the ribs§; with the ligaments they make excellent fnares for different animals; with the inteftines dried, cleaned, and blown, they make bags for their greafe and oil , and with the flcins the foles of their flioes and • De/cr. Kamtfchatka, Fr. 507. X Hiji. Nat. lib. ix. c. 3, t Hift. Kamtfchatka, Engl. 194. Fr.46. S ^oyaff, iii. 450. ftraps KAMTSCHATKA. ftraps and thon(?s for various purpofes. The rjchutjki take thefe aninials by harpooning ; the Oloutores, in nets made of thongs cut out of the Ikins of the IValrus, and rhe Kamtjchadales, by (hooting them with darts or arrows, the points of which, having been anointed with the juice of the Zgate, a fpecies of Anemone and Ranunculus *, are fo noxious as to bring ipeedy death from the (lighteft wound, like the celebrated poifon of the Paragua Indians. The vaft animals in queftion, when ftruck with it are infeded with fuch agoni.s that they cannot bear the fea, but rulh on fliore, and expire with dreadful groans and bellowing. The Grampus, Br. ZooL iii. N" 26, is very common in thcfe fcas- they are dreaded by the natives, who even make offerings to them, and entreat their mercy, leaft they fhould overfet their boats; yet, if thefe filh are thrown on fl.ore, they apply them to the fame ufes as the Whale f. The MotMa or Akoul, or White Shark, Br. Zool. iii. N° 42, is amon- the ufeful fifli. They eat the flelh, and form of the inteftines and bladder, bags to hold their oil. ]n the chafe of this fifli they never call It by Its name, for fear of provoking it to burft its bladder j:. Lampries, Br. Zool. iii. N»27; Eels,- 57, Wolf.filh, the Ku/atfchka of the Rnffians, is hereof moft uncommon fiercenefs, —65; common Cod- fifh?-73; Hadock, — 74; and Hake,— 81, are found in the Kamt^ Jchatkan fea: and I alfo fufpeft, that the three-bearded Cod,— N" 87 is alfo met with: it is called there Morjkie Nalmi%. An elegant fpecies' of Flounder, of excellent flavor, was taken here in abundance by our navi- gators: the back was ftudded with prickly tubercles, and marked longi- tudinally with lines of black on a brown ground. The Jerchei, pofllbly our Ruffe, — N- 127, is among the fifh of the country; as is a fpecies of the Englijh Sticklebacks. But the fifh of the firft importance to the Kamtjchadales, and on which * I cannot difcover the fpecies. Gmelin. in his Flora CibHca, does not give the left account of thefe plants. f Defer. Kamt/ch. 462. j Same, 466. § Br, Zool. iii. 261. E e tfjey ccv I; i G:i AMHUS. ' « •I '1*1 9«' .>ALw&^^ ■: ■■% I'! • l!l?f CCVI KAMTSCHATKA. they depend for fubfiftence, are the anadromous kinds, or thofe which at ftated feafons afcend the rivers and lakes out of the fea. Thefe are entirely of the Salmon genus, with exception to the common Herring, which in autumn quits the fait water. It is fayed, that every fpecies of Salmon is found here. I may with certainty adjoin, that feveral of the Sibirian fpecies, with variety peculiar to this country, afcend the Kamt- Jchadale rivers in multitudes incredible. The inhabitants dignify fome of their months by the names of the filh. One is called Kouiche, or & month of Red Pipes ; another, Jjaba, or that of Little White Fijh; a third, Kaiko, or of the filh Kaiko; and a fourth, Kijou, or the month of the Great White Fijh ♦. It is obfervable, that each fhoal keeps apart from others of different fpecies, and frequently prefers a feparate river, notwith- ftanding the mouths may be almoft contiguous. They often come up in fuch numbers as to force the water before them, and even to dam up the rivers, and make rium overflow their banks; infomuch that, on the fall of the water, fuch multitudes are left on dry ground, as to make a ftench capable of caufing a peftilence, was it not fortunately difperfed by the violence of the winds; befides, the bears and dogs afllft, by preying on them, to leffen the ill effefls. Every fpecies of Salmon dies in the fame river or lake in which it is born, and to which it returns to fpawn. In the third year, male and female confort together, and the latter depofits its fpawn in a hole formed with its tail and fins in the fand ; after which both fexes pine away, and ceafe to live. A filh of a year's growth continues near the place, guards the fpawn, and returns to the fea with the new-born fry in November ■\ The Salmons of this country fpawn but once in their lives: thofe of Sibi- ria and Europe^ the rivers of which are deep, and abound with infeft food, are enabled to continue the firft great command of nature frequently durim^ the period of their exiftence. In Kamt/chatka the rivers are chilly, fhallow, rapid, full of rocks, and deftitute of nourilhment for fuch multitudes : fuch therefore which cannot force their way to the neighborhood of the • Hift.Kamtfcb. 218. t Defer. Kamtfch. 47 j. tepid 1 " KAMTSCHATKA. ccvri •P. tepid ftreams, or get back to the Tea in time, univerfally pcriili; but Providence has given fuch refources, in the fpawncrs, tliat no difference in numbers is ever, obferved between the returning feafons. It is fingular, that neither the lakes or rivers have any fpecies of fifh but what conic from the fea. All the lakes (for this country abounds with them) com- municate with the fea j but their entrance, as well as that of many of die rivers, is entirely barred up with Hind brought by the tenipeftuous winds, which confine the fi(h mofl: part of the winter, till they are relcafcd by the ftorms taking another direftion. The fpecies which appears firft is the TJhaivytJcha. This is by much TsHAwtrscHA. the largeft ; it weighs fometimes between fifty and fixty pounds, and its depth is very great in proportion to the length. The jaws are equal, and never hooked : the teeth large, and in feveral rows : the fcales are larger than thofe of the common Salmon j on the back dufky grey, on the fides filvery : the fins bluilh white, and all parts unfpotted : the tail is lunated : the ficfh, during its refidence in the fea, is red ; but it becomes white in frelh waters. It is confined, on the eaftern fide of the peninfula, to the river of Kamtfchatka and Awatcha ; and on the weftern to the Bolchaia-reka, and a few others ; nor is it ever feen beyond lat. 54. It enters the mouths of the rivers about the middle of May, with fuch impetuofity as to raife the water before it in waves. It goes in far lefs numbers than the other fpecies j is infinitely more efteenned j and is not ufed as a common food, but referved for great entertainments. The natives watch its arrival, which is announced by the rippling of the water -, take it in ftrong nets i and always eat the firft they take, under a notion that the omiflion would be a great crime. The N^erka is another fpecies, called by the Ruffians, Krafmya ryha, from the intenfe purplifh rednefs of the flefti. It is of the form of the common Salmon j but never exceeds fixteen pounds in weight. When it firft enters the rivers it is of a filvery brightnefs, with a bluilh back and fins : when it leaves the fea the teeth are fmall, and jaws ftraitj but after I' D. P. V. A. 12 16. 10. N/ERKA. P.D. 11. P. 16. V. 10. A. 15. • Numbers of rays in the dorfal, peftoral, ventral, and anal fins. E e 2 ui it CCVIII Kyiutch. P. D. II. P. V. A. 14. 10. 14. Kbta. P.D. 14. P. .5. V. II. A. 18. GORBVSCHA. P.D. I a. P.ij. V. 10. A. 15. KAMTSCHATKA it has been fome time in the frefh water, the jaws grow crooked (efpecially in the male) and the teeth large. It begins to afccnd the rivers in vaft numbers in Jiwei penetrates to their very fourccs j and returns in Sep* temper to the fea, firft refting for fome time in the deep parts of the inter- vening lakes. It is taken in nets, either in the bays, as it approaches the rivers, or in the rivers, after it has quitted the fea *. The Ky/utcby or PJelaya ryba^ or White Fifli of the Ruffians, afcends the rivers in July, particularly fuch as are difcharged from the inland lakes, and remain till December, when all the old fifh perifh, and the fry take to the fea. The upper jaw of the male, in its laft period, becomes crooked. This fpecies has ihe form of a common Salmon, but never attains three ktt in length. It is of a filvery glofly color, fpotted about the back j but in the rivers acquires a reddifh caft : the jaws are long and blunt : the teeth large : the flefli is reddilh before it quits the fea ; but in the frefh water grows white. It is reckoned the moft excellent of the light-colored fifh. The Keta or Kayko, in form and fize refembles the lafl -, but the head is Ihorter and more blunt: the tail is lunated: the fiefh white: the color of the fcales a filvery white : the back greenifh ; and the whole free from fpots. It afcends the rivers in July, and the fifhery continues till 05lober, This fpecies is found in great abundance j and is fo common, that the Joukola made with it is called houjhold bread. The Gorbnjcha, or Hunch-back, arrives at the fame time with the lafl. In form it refembles the Grayling: never exceeds a foot and a half in length: is of a filvery color, and unfpotted : the tail forked: the flefli white. After it has been fome time in the frefh water it changes its fhape (the male efpecially) in a mofl furprizing manner. The jaws and teeth grow prodigiouHy long, efpecially the upper, which at firfl is fhortefl, but loon Ihoots beyond the under, and grows crooked downwards; the body becomes emaciated, and the meat bad: but what is mofl cha- rafteriflic, an enormous bunch rifes jufl before the firfl dorfal fin, to • This fpecies IS defcribed r^ev^^^iii. 351) under the name oi Red Fijh ; the preccd. iug, in p. 350, under that of T/chavitJi. which KAMTSCHATKA. CCIX P.D. II. P 14. V. 8. A. 10. which it owes its name. Its flefh is bad j fo that this fpecies falls to the fharc of the dogs. The Maltna, or Golet of the Ruffians, grows to die weight of twenty Malm a. pounds, and to the length of about twenty-eight inches. It is the mod flender and cylindrical of all the genus. The head refembles that of a trout : the fcales are very fmall : the back and fides bluifh, with fcattcred fpots of fcarlct red : the belly white : ventral and anal fins red : tail flightly forked. This and the two following are fporadic, going difperfedly, and not in flioals. It afcends the rivers with the laft, and attains their very fources. It feeds on the fpawn of the other fpecies, and grows very fat. The natives fait thofe they take in autumn, and prcferve frozen thofe which are caught when the frofts commence *. The Milktjchitjch is a fcarce fpecies, in form like a young Salmon ; but Milktschitsch, the fcales larger in proportion, and the body more flat : it never exceeds a foot and a half, in length : is of a filvcry white, with a bluifh back : nofe conical : jaws equal : tail flightly forked. The Mykijs appears at firft very lean, but grows foon fat : it is very vo- racious : feeds not only on fifh, but infefts and rats, while fwimming over the, rivers; and is fo fond of the berries of vacctnium vitis idaa, that it will dart out of the water, and fnatch at both leave: ind berries, which hang over the banks f . In fliape it refembles a common Salmon : feldom grows above two feet long : has large fcales, blunt nofe, and numerous teeth : the back is dufky, marked with black fpots j and on each fide is a broad band of bright red: the belly white. It is a fpecies of excellent flavor; but is fcarcer than the other kinds. Its time of arrival is not known : M. Steller therefore fufpeds that it afcends the rivers beneath the ice J. The /C«»y^/?, mentioned in page clxxv, frequents the bays of this country, Kunsh a. but never advances inland; and grows to the length of two feet: the nofe is fliort and pointed : the back and fides duflcy, marked with great yellowifli fpots, fome round, others oblong : the belly white : the lower fins and tail If' P.D. II, P. 14. V. 10. A. 13. Mykiss. P.D. 12. P. 14. V. 10. A. 12. • Dt/cr. Kamtfch. 482. f Same, 482. \ Sa;uc, 482. blue: ccx. Inghaohitsh. p. D. 8. 9. P. 12. V. 10. A. 12. Innyagha. OuiKI, KAMTSCHATKA. blue : the flefh white, and excellent. It is a fcarce fifli in thefe parts i but near Ochot/k afcends the rivers in great (hoals. I conclude this divifion of the tribe with the common Salmon, which is frequent here, and, like the others, afcends the rivers, equally to the ad- vantage of the natives of the country. Of the Salmon which Linn^us diftinguifhed by the title of C.r.^.«/ is the I^gbaghitjh, which has the habit of a fmall carp, with very lar^e fcales • the jawi nearly of equal length : the eyes very great, and fllvery : the teeth very minute : the body filvery, bluilh on the back : tail forked : it does not exceed five inches in length. It arrives in fpring and autumn, and in both kafons is full of fpawn, and fmells like a Smelt. The Imy.gba is another fmall kind, about five inches long, and not un- like the S Jlbula of LiNN^us. It is a rare fpecies, and found but in few rivers. P. D. 9. P. „. y. 8. A. 16. ■ The moft fingular is the Ouiki, or Salmo Catervarius of Stiller It belongs to the 0>m of Linn^us. Swims in immenfe fhoals on the eaftern coaft of Kamtjchatka, and the new-difcovered iOands, where it is often thrown up by the fea to the height of fome feet, upon a large extent of fliore : ,s exceffively unwholefome as a food, and caufes fluxes even in dogs. It never exceeds feven inches in length. Juft above the fide-line is a rough fafca, befet with minute pyramidal fcales, ftanding upright fo as to appear like the pile of fhag: their ufe is moft curious-while they are fw.mming, and even when they are flung on fliore, two three or even as many as ten, will adhere as if glued together, by means of th=s pile, infomuch that if one is taken up, all the reft are taken up at the fame To conclude this lift of Kamtjchadale Salmon, I muft add the ^-^Z^,. W«., or Grayling, the S Cylindraceus, before defcribed, the ^./.. ^/^«/^, Lin. Syft. 512. and the Salmo Eperlanus, or common Smelt to thofe which afcend the rivers.~For this account I am indebted to Doftor ^ALLAs, who extrafted it from the papers of Steller, for the ufe of this To thefe I may add, from the Spicilegia Zcologica of Dodlor Pallas, Fajc. vii. If KAMTSCHATKA. ecxi vii. 13, tab. ii. the Cyclopterus Ventricofus or Daechpu of the Kamt/cha' dalesy which is often flung on fliore and eaten by the natives. They call it libidinous and inceftuous, for they fay it watches the wonnen as they walk along the fhore, and calls a moft luftful eye towards them. The Cyclopterus Gelatine/us, Fa/c. vii. 19, tab. iii. is another fpecies, in fubftance a perfedt gelly, and fo filthy and fetid, that even the dogs ftarving with hungtr refufe to eat it. ' The Coitus Japonkus, Fafc. vii. 30, tab. v. is taken in thefe feas off the Kuril Ijlesy but more plentifully off Japan. It is defended like our aimed Bull-head, but is of a much more elegant form. The Herring, both the common and the variety, found in the gulph of Bothnia, called the MembraSy and by the Suedes, Stroeming, Faun. Suec. p. 1 28, vifit thefe coafts in fhoals, perhaps equal to thofe o( Europe. There are two feafons, the firft about the end of May, the fecond in OSiober. The firfl: fpecies are remarkably fine and large * j they afcend the rivers, and enter the lakes : the autumnal migrants are clofed up in them by the fliift- ing of the fand at the mouths of the entrance, and remain confined the whole winter. The natives catch them in fummer in nets ; and in winter in mofl: amazing numbers, by breaking holes in the ice, into which they drop their nets, then cover the opening with mats, and leave a fmall hole for one of their companions to peep through, and obferve the coming of the fifh J when they draw up their booty : and firing part on packthread for drying ; and from the remainder they prefs an oil white as the butter of Finland ■\. The feaj on which thefe people depend for their very exiflence, is finely adapted for the retreat and prefervation of fifh. It does not confifl: of a level uniform bottom, liable to be ruf?ed with florms, but of deep vallies and lofty mountains, fuch as yield fecurity and tranquillity to the finned in- habitants. We find the foundings to be mofl unequal : in fame places only twenty-two fathoms, in others the lead has not found a bottom with a hundred and fixty fathoms of line. On fuch places the fifh might reft un- Hbrring. Sea. Vejage, iii. 350. f Defer. Kamt/ch. 485- dlfturbed ccxn ill it n i'l Mi mt Ti DBS; KAMTSCHATKA. difturbed during the rage of the tempeftuous winters. I do not find the eft nonce o fteils being met »ith in thefe feas : either there a^e noL o I K? r^"' "^ '^"'^ '^' ''« "f *e navigator,. B„rnatu" probably hath made ample provif.on for the inhabits of A fea " he quantity ot fea-plants which it yields, Stb.l«, the great xplorerof ^Jir '"""''"'"*'= '"""-■"g. -X of which arf of Z^oZfn Fucuspeucedanifolius, Gm. Fucor. Fucus turbinatus Fucus corymbiferus, E. Fucus dulcis, E. Fucus tamarifcifolius *, E. Fucus bifidus Fucus polyphyllus Fucus clathrus Fucus myrica Hiji. - 76 - 97 - 124 - 189 - 201 - 206 - 211 - 88 Fucus rofa marina Fucus crenatus Fucus fimbriatus Fucus anguftifolius Fucus agarum Fucus quercus marina f Fucus veficulofus, Sp. PI. 1626, E. Ulva glandiformis - . 232 UlvaPriapus . . ^ - 102 - 160 - 200 - 205 - 210 Of there the ,t«»-r«,x marha is ufcd as a remedy in the dyfenterv- and ,1„ females of ^.W*. ,„ge their cheeks witi an infufion Z'hel ' tamanfcfolms in the oil of Seals. In the harbours of Sts. P^ur and Paul the greateft rife of the tides was five feet e.ght .nches at full and change of the moon, at thirtyl mL" paft four, and they were very regular every twelve hours t.The^Z phdofophersobfervedhere a lingular phenomenon in the flux and rtx of the fe. .w,ce,n the twenty-four hours, in which is one great flood and one fmall flood, the laft of which is called Manikha. Vcertain . m s nothing but the water of the river is feen within its proper channel b „t" rt 'L^M"""'*"' *' "«^" -' °'"""-d » overflow th; three feet, and the ude returns for three hours, but does not rife above a m K.«M.,U. 43. t Sa.,. „,. , ^^,^,_ „, ^^^^ footj KAMTSCHATKA. ccxin foot; a feven-hours ebb fuccceds, which carries off the fea-water, and kavcs the bay dry. Thu& it happens three days before and after the full moonj after which the great tide diniiniilics, and the Manikha, or little tide, increafes*. The rivers of the country rife in the midft of the great chain of moun« tains, and flow on each fide into the feas of Ochotjky or that of Kamtjchatka^ They furnilh a ready paffage in boats or canoes (with tlie intervention of carrying-places) quite acrofs the peninfula. As has been mentioned, the waters yield no fi(h of their own, but are the retreat of myriads of migrants from the neighboring feas. This peninfula, and the country to the weft, are inhabited by two na- tions i the northern parts by the Koriacs, who are divided into the Rein- deer or wandering, and the fixed Koriacs ; and the fouthcrn part by the Kamtfcbadaksy properly fo called : the firft lead an erratic life, in the traft bounded by the PenfcUnJka fea to the fouth-eaft ; the river Kowyma to the weft i and the river Jnadir to the north f. They wander from place to place with their Rein-cker, in fearch of the mols, the food of thofe ani- mals, their only weahh. They are fqualid, cruel, and warlike, the terror of the fixed Koriacsy as much as the TJchutJki are of them. They never frequent the fea, nor !ive on fifh. Their habitations are jourts or places half funk in the earth: they never ufe MaganSy or fummer-houfes elevated on pofts, like the Kamtfchadales : are in their perfons lean, and very fhort : have fmall heads and black hair, which they fhave frequently : their faces are oval: nofe fliort: their eyes fnnall: mouth large: beard black and pointed, but often eradicated. The fixed Koriacs are likewife fhort, but rather taller than the others, and ftrongly made : they inhabit the north of the peninfula : the Anadir is alfo their boundary to the north -, the ocean to the eaft j and the Kamtfchadales to the fouth. They have few Rein-deer, which they ufe in their fiedges j but neither of the tribes of Koriacs arc civilized enough to apply them to the purpofes of the dairy. Each fpeak a diflxirent dialed '>f the fame • Defer. Kamtfch. 510. f Hift. Kamt/ch, 136. Ff language; Nativ«j, Koriacs. WANDBRINa. Fixed. ccxiy KAMTSCHATKA. Kamtscha* DALES. :'i i' 1 il Reliciok. Genii. language ; but the fixed in moft things refemble the Kamtfchadales j and, like them, live almoft entirely on fifli. They are tinnid to a high degree, and behave to their wandering brethren with the utmoft fubmiflion ; who call them by a name which fignifies their Jlaves. Thefe poor peo- ple feem to have no alternative ; for, by reafon of the fcarcity of Rein-deer, they depend on thefe tyrants for the effential article of cloathing. I cannot trace the origin of thefe two nations > but from the features may pro- nounce them offspring o( tartars y which have fpread to the eaft, and dege- nerated in fize and ftrength by the rigour of the climate, and often by fcarcity of food. The true Kamtfchadales poflefs the country from the river Ukoi to the fouthern extremity, the cape Lopatka. They are fuppofed, by M. Stel- LER, to have been derived from the Mongalian Chinejey not only from a limilarity in the termination of many of their words, but in the refemblance of their perfons, which are Ihort. Their complexion is fwarthy: their beard fmall: their hair black: face broad and flat: eyes fmall and funk : eye-brows thin : belly pendent : legs fmall — circum- ftances common to them and the Mongalians, It is conjeftured, that in fome very remote age they fled hither to efcape the yoke of the eaftern conquerors, notwithftanding they believe themfelves to be aboriginal^ created and placed on the fpot by their god Koutkou. In refpeft to their deity, they are perfeft minute philofophers. They find fault with his i ifpenfations -, blafpheme and reproach him with having made too many mountains, precipices, breakers, fhoals, and catarafts ; with forming itorms and rains j and when they are defcending, in the winter, from their barren rocks, they load him with imprecations for the fa~ tigue they undergo. In their morals they likewife bear a great fimilitude to numbers among the moft polilhed rank in the European nations — they think nothing vitious that may be accomplifhed without danger j and give full loofe to every crime, provided it comes within the pale of fecurity. They have alfo their leflfer deities, or genii. Each of them have their peculiar charge; to thefe they pay confiderable veneration, and make offerings KAMTSCHATKA. ccxy offerings to them, to divert their anger or enfure their protedion. The Kamouli prefide over the mountains, particularly the vulcanic; the Ouchak- ihou, over the woods; Mitg, over the fea; Gaetch, over the fubterraneous world i SindFouila is the author of earthquakes. They believe that the world is eternal j that the foul is immortal ; that in the world below it will be reunited to the body, and experience all the pains ufual in its former , ftatej but that it never willfufter hunger, but have every thing in great abundance; that the rich will become poor, and the poor rich j a fort of juft difpenfation, and balance of former good and evil*. But almoft all thefe fuperftitions are vanifhed by the attention of the Rujmis to their converfion. There are few who have not embraced the Chriftian re- ligion. Churches have been built, and fchools erefted, in which they are fuccefsfully taught the language of their conquerors, which has already almoft worn out that of the native people. The country was very populous at the arrival of the Rufmns ; but, after Numbe^rs^ of a dreadful vifitation of the fmall-pox, which in 1767 fwept away twenty ^°'"'^' thoufand fouls t, at prefcnt there are not above three thoufand who pay tribute, the inhabitants of the Kuril iQes included. Here are about four hundred of the military Rujtatis and Cofacks, bcfides a number of Ru^an traders and emigrants perpetually pouring in, who intermix with the natives:!: in marriage, and probably in time will extinguifh the aboriginal race. The offspring is a great improvement j for it is remarked, that the breed is far more adive than the pure Ruftan or Cofack, Sunk in lordly indolence, they leave all the work to the Kamtfchadalesy or to their women ; and fuffer the penalty of their lazinefs, by the fcurvy in its moft frightful forms. The Kamtjchadales feem to retain the antieiit form of their drefsj but during fummer it is compofcd of foreign materials ; in the warm feafon both fexes ufe nankeen, linen, and filk j in winter, the fkins of animals well dreffed: th - drefs of men and women refembles a carter's frock with long fleeves, furred at the wrifts, the bottom, and about the neck. On their head is a hood of fur, fometimes of the Ihaggy Ikin of a dog, and often of • Hiji, Kamt/ch. 68.71' + ^"y^'' »"• J^^" * ^*'"*' ^^^' Ff 2 Dress. the w CCXVI Arms; Hospitality. 1 1 ,| :'! ''■ ii] • ; i ■ li ij I if' KAMTSCHATKA. the elegant /kin of the earless Marmot. Troufers, boots, and furred mittens, connpofe the reft. The habit of ceremony of a rdon or chieftain IS very magnificent, and will coft a hundred and twenty rubels : inantient times It was hung over with the tails of animals, and his furred hood flow- ed over each (houlder, with the refpeftability of a full-bottomed perriwig m the days of Charles II. The figure given in the Hiftory of Kamt/chatkl tranOated into French, exhibits a great man in all his pride of drefs'I but fe rapidly has the prefent race of natives copied the Ruffians, that poffibly in fo fhort a fpace as half a century, this habit, as well as numbers of other articles and cuftoms, may be ranked among the antiquities of the Bows and arrows are now quite difufed. Formerly they ufed bows made of larch-wood covered with the bark of the birch. The arrows were headed with ftone or bone, and their lances with the fame materials. The,r armour was either mats, or formed of thongs cut out of the fkins of Seals, and fewed together, foas to make a pliable cuirafs, which they fixed on their left fide , a board defended their breaft, and a high one or^ their back defended both that and the head. Their favage and beaftly hofpitality is among the obfolete cuftoms. Fomierly, as a nnark of refpeft to a gueft, the hoft fet before him as much food as would ferve ten people. Both were ftripped naked: the hoft politely touched nothing, but compelled his friend to devour what was fet before him, tiU he was quite gorged, and at the fame time heated the place, by inceffantly pouring water on hot ftones, till it became unfupport- able. When the gueft was crammed up to the throat, the generousTnd- ord, on his knees, ftuffed into his mouth a great fiice of whale's fat, cut off what hung out and cried, in a furly tone, W, or Uere! by which he fully difcharged his duty, and, between heat and cramming, obliged the poor gueft to cry for mercy, and a releafe from the heat, and the danger of being choaked with the noble welcome; oftentimes he was obliged KAMTSCHATKA. ccxvir Dwellings. obliged to purchafe his difmiffion with moft coftly presents j but was fure to retaliate on the firft opportunity *. From the birds they learned the art of building their halagans or fum- mer-houfes. They feem like nefts of a conic form, perched on high poles inflead of trees j with a hole on one fide, like that of the magpie, for the entrance. TheiryV«r/j, or winter refidences, are copied from the OECONOMic Mouse j but with lefs art, and lefs cleanlinefs. It is partly funk under ground j the fides and top fupported by beams, and wattled, and the whole covered with turf. In this they live gregarioufly, to the number of fix families in each ; in a ftate intolerable to an European, by reafon of fmoke, heat, and ftench, from their (lore of dried or putrid fifh, and from their lazinefs, in never going out to perform their offerings to Cloacina •)•. Inftigated by avarice, the Ruffians made a conqueft of this favagc country ; and found their account in it, from the great value of its furry produ£tions. They have added to their dominions this extremity of Afia, diftant at left four thoufand miles from their capital. The journey to it is ftill attended with great difficulties, through wild and barren re- gions, over dreadful mountains j and poffibly imprafticable, but for the multitude of Sibirian rivers, which, with fliort intervals of land, faci- litate the paffage. Travellers ufually take their departure out of Sibiria {torn Jakutz, on the river Lena, in lat. 6 a : they go by water along the river, to its conflux with the Jldun, along the Aldun to the Mai, and from that river up the Judoma j and from near the head of that river to Ochotjk, the port from whence they embark, and crofs the fea of Ochotjk to Bolfchaia-reka, the port of the weftern fide oi Kamt/cbatka. The whole journey ufually takes up the Ihort fummer : that over the hills to Ochotjk (and which is moft convenient) was performed by Steller in thirty-four days, excluding feven of reft %. The Kuril or Kuriljki ifles, which probably once lengthened the penin- Kuril I*les, fula of Kamtfckatka, before they were convulfed from it, are a feries of Roads to Kamtschatka. * Hijl. Kamtfch. 107 to 109. t iJ/^^V VI ar. ii. 217. X Defer, Kamt/ch. 602. iflands CCXVIII KURIL ISLES. BEHRINC: ISLE. iflands running fouth froni\ the low promontory Lopatka, in lat. 51 ; be- tween which and Sboomjka, the mod northerly, is only the diftance of one league. On the lofty Paramoufer, the fecond in the chain, is a high- VwLCANic. peaked mountain, probably vulcanic*: on the fourth, called Jrauma- kutan, is another vulcano f i on Uru/s is another ; on Storgu two -, and on Kmativy or Kaunachir^ one. Thefe three make part of the group which pafs under the name of the celebrated land of Jefo %. Japan abounds with vulcanoes § ; fo that there is a feries of fpiracles from Kamtfchatka to Japarij the laft great link of this extenfive chain., Time may have been, when the whole was a continuation of continent, rent afunder before the laboring earth gave vent to its inward ftruggles, through the mouths of the frequent vulcanoes. Even with thefe dif- charges, Japan has fufFered confiderably by earthquakes \, Vulcanoes are local evils, but extenfive benefits. The Ruffians foon annexed thefe iflands to their conquefts. The fea abounded v/ith Sea Otters, and the land s/ith Bears and Foxes j and fome of them Iheliered the Sable. Temptations fufficient for the Ruffians to in- vade thefe iflands j but the rage after the furs of the Sea Otters has been fo great, that they are become extremely fcarce, both here and in Kamtfchatka. The iflands which lie to the eafl: of that peninfula, and form a chain between it and America^ muft now engage our attention. They lie in the form of a crefcent, and are divided into three groupes ; the Aleutian^ the Andreanoffskiey and the Fox iflesj but mention muft firft be made of Bbhring's ifle, and that of Mednoi, and one or two fmall and of little note. Thefe lie about two hundred and fifty verfts to the eaft of the Behring'sIslb. momh of Kamtfchatka rWer. Behring's is in lat. ^$, where that great feaman was fliipwrecked in November 1741, on his return from his Ame- rican difcoveries j and, after enduring great hardfliips, periftied miferably. • Foyage, iii. 388. f Decouvertes det Ruffes, i. 1 15. J Thefe ifles are marked in a Ruffian map, communicated to me by Doftor Pallas, with MS. notes. § Kamp- fer, Hift. Japan, i. 305. |] Same, 304. Numbers BEHRING'S ISLE. CCXIX Numbers of his people died of the fcvirvy, with all the dreadful fymptoms attendant on thofc who pcrifhed by the fame difeafe in Lord AnforC% voy- age * ; the furvivors, among whom was the philofopher Steller, reach- ed Kamtfchatka in jiuguft 174a, in a vcffel conftrufted out of the wreck of their fliip. The ifle is about fevcnty or eighty verfts long; confifts of high granitical mountains, craggy with rocks and peaks, changing into free-ftone towards the promontories. All the rallies run from north to fouth : hills of fand, formed by inundations of the fea, floated wood, and flceletons of marine animals, are found at great diftances from the fhore, at thirty fathoms perpendicular height above the high-water level -, which ferve as a monument of the violent inundations that the vulcanoes before mentioned produce in thefe feas. Farther, the effed joi the me- teoric waters, and of the frofts, caufes the rocks very fenfibly to (hiver and fall down, and precipitates every year fome great mafs into the fea, and changes the form of the ifland. The others are in the fame cafe j fa- nothing is more probable than their gradual diminution> and, by confe- quence, the more eafy communication formerly from one continent to the other, before the injuries of time, the efFefts of vulcanoes, and other cataftrophes, had infenfibly diminifhed the fize, and perhaps the number of thefe ifles, which form the chain ; and had eaten in the coafls of Jfiay which every where exhibit traces of the ravages they have under- gone f. The ifland fwarmed with Sea Otters, which difappeared in March. The Urfine Seal fucceeded them in vafl: numbers, and quitted the coafl: the Utter endofAfoy. The Leonine Seal, the Lachtach or Great Seal, and the Manati, abounded, and proved the fupport of the wrecked during their fl:ay. Arctic Foxes were feen in great multitudes, and completed the lifl: of Quadrupeds. The fame fpccies of water-fowl haunt the rocks, and the fame fpecies of fifh afcend the rivers, as do in Kamtfchatka. The * Book i. ch. X. and Decowvertes, &c. ii. 293. t I am indebted to Doftor Pallas for the whole account of this chain of iflands, except where I make other references.— My extradts are made from a French Memoir, drawn up by my learned friend, and communicated to me. tide» ccxx M E D N O I. Mednoi. Aleutian Isles. The MBARB8T. tides rife here fcven or eight feet. The bottom of the fea is rocky, cor- refpondent with the ifland. Stiller found, on Bkhrimg's ifland, two hundred and eleven fpecies of plants, of which more than a hundred grow in Silfiria, and other mountanous countries j many are common to the eaftern fide of Kamt' Jchatka and America. Brufti-wood is only met with in the broadeft part of the iflaiid. Near the northern part are fome fmall alders with (harp- pointed leaves, and fome wild rofes. The betula naia grows in the marflies -, and on the hills are fome fmall junipers, thc/orhs aucuparia or wisken tree, and a few creeping willows. Tlie following, adding to thofe in the Flora of Kamt/chaika^ is the fum of thofe named in the account of Btbring's ifland. Mimulus luteus. Gnaphalium dioicum, A. Fumaria. Cornus herbacea, E. Picris pedata. Epilobium anguftifolium, E. Polypodium fragrans, E. Cochlearia danica, E. Andromeda polyfolia, E. < Pulmonaria maritima, E. Campanula, Gm. Sib. iii. i6o, 28. Senecio, Gm. Sib. ii. 136, N" n8. Leontodon taraxacum, A. E. Virg. Arnica nnontana. Hieracium murorum, (3. JE. Chryfanthemum leucahthemum, Tanacetum vulgare, E. Firg. Mednoi, or the copper ifland, lies a little to the fouth-eaft. A great quantity of native copper is found at the foot of a ridge of calcareous mountains on the eaftern fide, and may be gathered on the ftiores in vaft maflcs, which feems originally to have been melted by fubterraneous fires. This ifland is full of hillocks, bearing all the appearance of vulcanic fpi- racles j which makes it probable, that thefe iflands were rent from the continent by the violence of an earthquake. Among the float-wood off this ifland is camphor, and another fwect wood, driven by the currents ii-om the ifle of Japan. The Aleutian group lies in the bend of the crefcent, nearly in mid- channel betw*^" ^a and America, lat. 52. 30, and about two hundred verflis diftant from Mednoi. It confifts of Attok, Schemija, and Semiichi. The ALEUTIAN ISLES. CCXXI The firft fecms to furpafs in fize Bbhrimo's ifle ; but reremblcs it in its component parts, as do the other two. Jttok fecms to be the ifland which Bebriftg called Mount St, John, Thefe are inhabited by a people who fpcak a language different from the northern Jjiatia ; they feem emi- grants or colonifts from Amerka, ufing a dialeft of the neighboring continent. They were difcovered in 1745, by Michael Nevodtftkoff, a na- tive of Tohljki, who made a voyage, at the expence of certain merchants, in fearch of furs, the great objcd of thefe navigations, and the leading caufe of difcoveries in this fea. This voyage was marked with horrid barbarities on the poor natives. The marine animals muft have fwarmed about this period, and for fome time after. Mention is made of ad- venturers who brought from hence to Kamt/chatka the Ikins of 5030 old and young Sea Otters. Another, on a fmall adjacent ifle, killed 700 old, and 120 cub Sea Otters, 1,900 blue Foxes, 5,700 black Urfine Seals, and 1,310 of their cubs *. The blue Foxes abound in thefe iflands, brought here on floating ice, and mi.ltiply greatly. The blue variety is ten times more numerous here than the white ; but the re- vcrfe is obferved in Sihiria. They feed on fifti, or any carrion left by the tide. The natives bore their under lips, and infert in them teeth cut out of the bones of the Walrus j and they ufe boats covered with the flcins of fea animals. At a great diftance from the firft group is the fecdnd, or fartheft Aleu- tian ifles : of thofe we know no more than that the natives refemble thofe of the firft:. By the vafl: fpace of fea which Dodor Pallas allows be- tween the two groups, Captain Cook is fully vindicated for omitting, in his chart, the multitude of iflands which, in the Ruffian maps, form al- moft: a complete chain from Behring's ifle to America. Dr. Pallas's information muft have been of the beft kind ; and he and our illuflxious navigator coincide in opinion, that they have been neec'efsly multiplied, by the miftake of the Rufftan adventurers in the reckoning, or, on feeing the fame ifland in different points of view, putting it down as a new dif- Ctxi't Rujf. Di/c, 4to. 4». 57. 8vo. 46. 63. Aleotiak Ijlb«. The FARTHisr, covcry. CCXXII ANDREAN AND FOX ISLES. CALIFORNIA. Fox Isles. I; Ji t Ajid»8an Isles. covcr>', and impofing on it a new name. The /indreanoffskie, fo called from their difcovercr (in i-jSi) ^ndrean Tolftyk, fucceed. On two of them arc vulcanoes. Laftly, arc the Fox iflands, fo called from the number of black, grey, and red Foxes found on them ; the Ikins of which are fo coarfe, as to be of little value. The natives bore their nofcs and under lips, and infert bones in them by way of ornament. Among the 1.1 ft in this group is Oomlajcha, which was vifited by Captain Cook. 1 his lies fo near to the coall q{ America y as to clame a right to be con- fidered as an appurtenance to it. I Ihall therefore quit thefe detached paths for the prcfent, and, in purfuance of my plan, trace the coafts of the northern divifion of the great continent, from the place at which it is divided from South America, California. After traverfing obliquely the Tacijic Ocean, appears California, the moft foutherly part of my plan on this fide of the new world. This greateft of peninfulas extends from Cape Blanco^ lat. 32, to Cape St. Lu- casy lat. 23 i and is bounded on the caft by a great gulph called the Fer- million fea, receiving at its bottom the vaft and violent river Colerado, The weft fide is mountanous, fandy, and barren *, with feveral vulcanoes on the main land and the iflcs f : the eaftcrn, varied with extenfive plains, fine vallies watered with numbers of ftreams, and the country abounds with trees and variety of fruits. The natives, the moft innocent of people, are in a ftate of paradifaical nature, or at left were fo before the arrival of the European colonifts among them. The men went nearly naked, without the confcioufnefs of being fo. The head is the only part they pay any attention to j and that is furrounded with a chaplet of net-work, ornamented with feathers, fruits, or mother of pearl. The women have a neat matted apron falling to their knees : they fling over their fhoulders the fkin of fome beaft, or of fome large bird, and wear a head-drefs like the other fex. The weapons of the country are bows, arrows, jave- lins, and bearded darts, calculated cither for war or the chace. In the • Shehoh, in Harris', Coll. i. 333. t Hackluyt, iii. ^ou^HiJi. CaUfm-nia. i. 140. art CALIFORNIA. art of navigation, they have not got beyond the bark-log, made of a few bodies of trees bound parallel together i and in thefe they dare the tur- bulent clement. They have no houfes. During fummer they flielter themfclves from the fun under the fhade of trees; and during nights flcep under a roof of branches fpread over them. In winter they burrow under ground, and lodge as fimply as the beafts themfclves : fuch however was their condition in 1697; I have not been able to learn the effcft of European refinement on their manners. Numbers of fettlements have, fince that time, been formed there, under the aufpices of the Jefuits. The Order was of late years fupported by the Marquis de f^alero, a patriotic and munificent nobleman*, who favored their attempts, in order to extend the power and wealth of the Spanijh dominions ; and I believe witii fucccfs. The land and climate, particularly Monterty, in lat. 36, is adapted for every vegetable production i and a good wine is made from the vines introduced by the colonifts. The natives are a fine race of men, tall, brawny, and well made; with black hair hanging over their Ihoulders, and with copper-colored Ikins. "We have a moft imperfed account of the animals of this peninfula. It certainly pofleffes two wool-bearing quadrupeds. As to birds, I doubt not but the Jefuits are right, when they fay, that it has all that are found in New Mexico and New Spain. The capes of Florida and cape St, Lucas ccxxiit Natives. • This is the nobleman wliom the writer of Lord A>i/on's Voyage ftigmatifcs with the epithet of munificent bigot. It was not by a reverend author, as is generally fuppofed, but by a perfon whofe principles were unhappily in the extreme of another tlndure. — Having from my youth been honored with the friendlhip of the Jnfon family, 1 can give a little hiftory of the compilation of the Voyage : — A Mr. Paman firft undertook the work. It was after- wards taken out of his hands, and placed in thofe of the reverend Mr. Walters, chaplain of the Centurion ; but he had no (hare in it farther than coUefting the materials from the feverai journals : thofe were delivered to Mr, Benjamin Robins, a moft able mathematician, and the moft elegant writer of his time. He was fon of a quaker-taylor at Bath, whom I have often feen : a moft venerable and refpeftable old man. Mr. Robins unfortunately forgot that he was writing in the charafter of a divine ; and it was not thought proper to affront Mr. tVahers, by omitting his name in the title-page, as he had taken in fubfcriptions : this, therefore, will account for the conftant omiftion of the word Providence, in a voyage which abound- ed with fuch fignal deliverances. G g 2 lie ccxxiv Sir Francis Drak£. CALIFORNIA. Jie nearly under the fame latitudes, and form the fouthern extremities o( North America j but our ignorance of the produdlions of die vafV prol vinces o{New Mexico, will leave ample fubjea to a future naturalift to fupply my deficiencies. This country was difcovered under the aufpices of the great Cortez, and Don Antonio de Mendofa, cotemporary viceroy of the new conquefts : each, aftuated by a glorious fpirit of emulation, fent out commanders to advance the welfare of their country to the utmoft; and Franci/co UUoa, in ^S39y^nd Fernando Alarchon/in 1540, foon difcovered this pcninfula, and other adjacent regions, fources of immenfe wealth to their country*.* The Spanijh adventurers of thefe early times failed as high as lat. 42 s and named, in honor of the viceroy, the fartheft point of their difcovery] Cabo di Mendofa, Our celebrated navigator, S\r Francis Brake, on June 5th 1578, touched on this coalt, firft in lat. 43 j but was induced, from the feverity of the cold, to fai' to lat. 38, where he anchored in a fine bay. He found the natives to be a fine race of men, naked as the Calif ornians, with the fame kind of head-dreffes j and the females habited like their fouthern neighbors. He was treated like a deity. The chief of the country, by the refignation of his crown or chaplet, his fceptre, 1. e. calumet, and other infignia of royalty, veiled in Sir Francis the whole land j which he named New Albion, from its white cliffs, and took formal pofTeffion of in the name of his royal miftrefs. We may be thankful that we never clamed the ceffion : it forms at prefent part oi New Mexico-, and probably is refcrved for future contefts between the Spaniards and the offspring of our late colonifts. Sir Francis found this country a warren of what he calls * a ftrange kind of * Conies, with heads as the heads of ours j the feete of a Want, i.e. a * Mole, and the tail of a Rat, being of a great length : under her chinne * is on either fide a bag, into the which fiie gathereth her meat when flie * hath filled her bellie abroad.' The common people feed on them, and the king's coat was made of their fkins f. This fpecies is to be referred to • A full account of thefe voyages may be feen in Uacklujt, iii. 397, £«ff. t Hackluyi, iii. 738. th iC CALIFORNIA. ccxxv the divifion of Rats with pouches in each jaw; and has never been obferved from that period to this. Exaaiy two hundred years from that time thfe coaft was again vifited Captaik Cook. by an Englijhma»y who in point of abilities, fpirit, and perfeverance, may be compared with the greateft feamen our ifland ever produced. Captain James Cook, on March 7th 1778, got fight of New Albion, in lat. 44. 23 north, and Jong. 235. 20 eaft, about eight leagues diftant. The fea is here (as is the cafe the whole way from California) from feventy-three to ninety fathoms deep. The land is moderately high, diverfified with hills and vallies, and every where covered with wood, even to the water's edge. To the moll fouthern cape he faw he gave the name of Cape Gregory, its latitude 43. 30: the next> which was in 44. 6, he called Cape Perpetual and the firft land he faw, which was in 44. 53, Cape Foul-weather. The whole coaft, for a great extent, is nearly fimilar, aiuioft ftrait, and harbor- iefs, with a white beach forming the Ihore. While he was plying ofF the coaft, he had a figlit of land in about lat. 43. 10, nearly in the fitua- ticn of Cape Blanco de St. Sebajiian, difcovered by Martin d'Jguilar in 1603. A little to the north, the Oregon, or great river of the Z?''^, dif- charges itfrlf into the Pacific Ocean, Its banks were covered with trees j but the violence of the currents prevented D'/iguilar from entering into it*. This, and the river of Bourbon, or Port Nel/on, which falls into Hud/on's Bay ; that of St. Laurence, which runs to the eaft ; and the Miffiftpi, which falls into the bay of Mexico, are faid to rife within thirty miles of each other. The intervening fpace muft be the highcft ground in North Jmerica, forming an inclined plane to the difcharges of the feveral rivers. An ill fated traveller, of great merit, places the fpot in lat. 47, weft long, from London 98, between a lake from which the Oregon flows, and another called ^hite Bear lake, from which the Miji/ipi\. , • Hifi. California, ii, 292. t Carter's Travels, 76, 121.— —Mr. Carwr, captain of an independent company, pe- netrated far inland into jimerica ; and publiflied an inierefting account of his travels. This gentleman was fufFcred to perilh for want, in LenJon, the feat of literature and opulence ! ! ! This i^* OCXXVI CHAIN OF ALPS IN AMERICA. Chain of Alps IN Amjerica. 5 W - n This exalted fituation is part of the Shining Mountains, which are branches of the vaft chain which pervades the wliole continent oi America. It may be fairly taken froin the fouthern extremity, where Staten Land and Terra del Fuego rife out of the fea, as infulated links, to an immenfe height, black, rocky, and marked with rugged fpiry tops, frequently covered with fnow. New Georgia may be added, as another, horribly congenial, rifinc^ detached farther to the eaft. The mountains about the ftrcights of Maget lan foar to an amazing lieight, and infinitely fuperior to thofe of the northern hemifphere, under die fame degree of latitude. From the north fide of the ftrcights of Magellan, they form a continued chain through tiie kingdoms of Chili and Peru, prcferving a courfe not remote from the Pacific Ocean. The fummits, in many places, are the higheft in the world. There are not lefs than twelve which are from two thouiand four hundred toifes high, to above three thoufand. Pichincba, which impends over ^ito, is about thirty-five leagues from the fea, and its fummit is two thoufand four hundred and thirty toifes above the furface of the water ; Cayambe, immediately under the equator, is above three thoufand; and Chimborazo higher than the Id.! by two hundred. Moft of them have'been vulcanic, and in difl^srent ages marked with eruptions far more horrible than have been known in other quarters of the globe. They extend from the equator, through Chili', in which kingdom is a range of vulcanoes, from lat. 26 foudi, to 45. 30*, and pofllbly from thence into Term del Fuego itfelf, which, forming the ftrcights of Magellan, may iiave been rent from the continent by fome great convulfion, occafioned by their labor- ingSi and Nezv Georgia forced up from the fame caufe. An unpa- ralleled extent of plain appears on their taftern fide. The river oi' Jma- tsons runs along a level cloathed with forefts, after it burfts from its con- finement at the Pongo o( Borjas, till it reaches its fca-like difcharge into the jitlantic Ocean. In the northern hemifphere, the Andes pafs through the narrow ifthmus of Darien, into the kingdom of Mexico, and prcferve a majcftic height and • OvalU, Hijl. Chili, in Churchiirs Coll. iii. 13. . their if CHAIN OF ALPS IN AMERICA. their vulcanic difpofition. The mountain Popoeatepec made a violent eruption during the expedition of Cortez, which is moft beautifully de- fcribed by his hiftorian, yintonio de Solis *. This, poffibly, is the fame with the vulcano obferved by the Abbe d'Juterocbe, in his way from Fera Cruz to Mexico, which, from the nakednefs of the lavas, he conjeftured to have been but lately extinguiOied f. From the kingdom of Mexico, this c n is continued northward, and to the eaft o( California; then verges fo gi ly towards the weft, as to leave a very inconfiderable fpace between it and e Pacific Ocean; and frequently detached branches jut into thefea, and form promontories ; which, with parts of the chain itfclf, were often ktn by our navigators in the courfc of their voyage. Some branches, as we have be- fore obferved, extend towards the eaft, but not to any great diftance. A plain, rich in woods and favannas, fwarming with Bifons or Buftaloes, Stags, and Virginian Deer, with Bears, and great variety of game, occupies* an amazing trad, from the great lakes of Canada, as low as the gulph of Mexico; and eaftward to the other great chain of mountains, the Jpa- lacbian, which are the Alps of that fide of northern America, I imagine its commencement to be about lake Cbamplain and lake George, with branches pointing c ^liquely to the river St. Laurence eaftward, and rifing on its oppofite coafts : others extending, with lowering progrefs, even into our poor remnant of the new world. Nova Scotia. The main chain pafles through the province of New York, where the lower or eaftermoft fcattered ridge is diftinguifhed by the name of tlie Highlands, and lies within forty miles of the Atlantic. From thence it recedes from the fea, in proportion as it advances fouthward ; and near its extremity in South Carolina is three hundred miles diftant from the water. It confifts of feveral parallel ridges %, divided by moft enchanting vallies, and generally cloathed with variety of woods. Thefe ridges rife gradually from the eaft, one above the other, to the central ; from which they gradually fall to the weft, into • Conqueft of Mexico, book iii. ch. iv. f fToy. to California, 33. X Doftor Garden. See alfo Mr. LeiA^is Evani'a Eflays and map. Philadelphia, zd. cd. p. 6, y.-. the GCXXVI} CCXXVIII CHAIN OF ALPS IN AMERICA. the vaft plains of the MiffiftpL The middle ridge is of an enormous bulk and height. The whole extends in breadth about feventy miles; and in many places leaves great chafms for the difcharge of the vaft and nume- rous rivers which rife in the bofoms of the mountains, and empty them- felves into the Atlantic ocean, after yielding a matchlefs navigation to the provinces they water. In p. clviii. I have given a view of the immenfe elevated plain in the Ruffian empire. Beyond the branch of the ApalachiaH mountains, called The Endlejs, is another of amazing extent, nearly as high as the mountains themfelves*. This plain, (called the Upper Plains) is ex- ceedingly rich landi begins at the Mohock's river; reaches to within afmall diftance of lake Ontario; and to the weftward forms part of the extenfive plains of the OhiOi and reaches to an unknown diftance beyond the Miffi- , fipi. Vaft rivers take their rife, and fall to every point of the compafs j into lake Ontario, into Hadfon's river, and into the Delawar and Sufque- hannah. The tide of the //«^o»V river flows through its deep-worn bed far up, even to within a fmall diftance of the head of the Delawar-, which after a furious cr. jrfe down a lon^ defcent, interrupted with rapids, meets the tide not very remote ^rom its difcharge into the ocean f. Lowr Grounds. Much of the low grounds between the bafe of the Apalachian hills and the fea (efpecially in Virginia and Carolina) have in early times been occu- pied by the ocean. In many parts there are numbers of fmall rifings compofed of ftiells, and in all the plains incredible quantities beneath the furface. Near the Miffifipi again, in lat. 32. 28, from the depth of fifty to eighty feet, are always found, in digging, fea-fand and fea-fliells, exadtly fimilar to what are met with on the fhores near Penfacola %. This is covered with a ftratum of deep clay or marie, and above that with a bed of rich vegetable earth. All this proves the propriety of applying the epithet of NEW to this quarter of the globe, in a fenfe difl=erent to that in- tended by the novelty of its difcovery. Great part of North America at left became but recently habitable: the vaft plains of the Miffiftpi, and the traft between the Apalachian Alps and the Atlantic, were once poflefled by • Mr. Lenjuis Evans, p. 9, aad map. t Same. t 7, Lorimtr, efq. the the EARTH Q^U A K E S. CCXXIX Component rfie ocean. Either at this period America had not received its population from the old world, or its inhabitants muft have been confined to the mountains and their vallies, till the waters chafed to cover the trafts now peopled by millions. The compofition of the northern mountains agrees much with thofe of the north oi Afiuy and often confifts of a grey rock^ftone or granite, mixed with glimmer and quartz ; the firft ufually black, the laft purplilh. Near the river St. Laurence^ a great part of the mountains refts on a kind of flaty limcftone. Large beds of limcftones, of different colors, are feen running from the granitical mountains, and are filled with Corhua AmmoniSt and difFerentr forts of fhells, particularly with a fmall fpecies of fcallop, together with various forts of corals, branched as well as ftarry. The ftrata of limeftone alfo appear near the bafe of different parts of the Apalachian chain *. Without doubt, the fchiftous band, confiding of variety of ftone, fplit and divided by fiffures horizontal and perpendicular (in Afta the repofitory of metallic veins) is alfo found attendant on the granitical mountains o( North Ammcoi and like them will be found rich in ores f. The labor will be amply repaid to the proprietors, by the difcovery of mineral fources of wealth, perhaps equal to thofe already difcovered in the fimilar fecondary chains of mountains in the Ruffian empire J. ' North America is fubjeft to earthquakes, but never to the deftruftive Earthquakes. dtgrtt thiiX. South America is. The only obfervations which could have been made were on the eaftern part. Canada and New England have experienced feveral fhocks, fome very violent, fo as to throw down walls and chimnies, dry up fprings and fmall rivers j infeft others with ful- phurcous and moft fetid fmells. In fome places fulphureous blafts burft out of the ground, and flung up calcined bituminous earth, or loads of fine fand and afbes, mixed with a remnant of fulphur. The fame Angular • Kalm, iii. 21, 198, 216.— 'Bartram't Travels, lo, 38. f In fuch feem to be lodged the lead and filver ores found in Canat/n. See Kalm, iiu 212, t SeeDT.?\LLAi'iO&/'./ar la/ormaticn Je Montagfiej,8cc, <• H H h rumbling IS ccxxx I in; '! W ! Climate op North America. 11 CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA. nimbUng noifc preceded each earthquake as in Europe i and fhips, at a great d.ftance from Ihore, kh Aocks a, if they had ftruck upon a rock. The moft ternble earthquake on record in thefe parts was that of ,663. Its greateft violence was in Canada. Many mountains were broken and rent , and, between r^.«^^. and ^»ui^, two mountains were flung fo as , Thefe parts of North Jmerica have their vulcanoes. On the fTea River mountain m the province o( New Hampjhire. are cinders, calcined matter, and burnt fand. Noifes have been heard at the diftances of fourteen or ^een miles , and, about thirty-five years ago, the noife was uncommonly loud i and at that t.me the fire was feen very diftant. Thefe accounts of 1' ^xTT." 1 '""^'^'^^^ ''^"^' ^"' ^ ""^« ^^^^' but that they are ^^ founded^ As to the e.p^ofions, which fo often rend the n)cks in North ^menca they are of different nature, and caufed oy the exparafive power of the frofts *. h«ixii^c The thermometer has been known, in Hudfon's-hay, to rife out of doers to 85, on the i2th of July, and to f.nk in the month oi January to 4c below the cypher, in aglafs regulated according to Farenhein fcale. It has been obferved by Mr. Hutcbms, that on the 6th of July, 177 r »he quickfilver rofe as high as 99; and once in the fame month, for an hour or two, even to 103. In refpeft to cold, the quickfilver begins to con- geal when It IS funk to about 40 below the cypher; but the fpirit thermo- meter continues to Ihew a degree of cold fo low as 46. The former re marks were made by Mr. fVales, at Prince of Wales'^ fort, in lat rg' cc" correfpondent to the fouthern part of the Orknies. Thofe iOands lie fur' rounded by the fea: Hud/on' s-bay has to the weft a traft of continent -x' tending m the narroweft part above thirty-five degrees, covered the whole winter with foow, and to the north a ftUl more rigorous climate, a fca • See ProfelTor ^/Ws account of the Earthquake, in Nmb Amric, ,„d M, Ah. perpetually STORMS IN CAROLINA. perpetually infefted with ice: fo let the wiftd blow either frdfti the weft or from the north, it is fure to bring with it the moft fevwe effods. Fror the province of Ntw York to this in queftion>the grotmd remains <:overed with fnow the greateft part of the winter j later or earlier, as the country approaches or recedes front the fbwth. The predominant winds arc from the weft, and thoft blow above three quarters of the year : but the north or north-eafterly wmds arc obferved to be t?he vehicles of fnow. The north- wefterly bring the fevereft cold. The middle provinces are remarkable for the ufifteadineft of the weatt appeared to be about forty-five degL, though t infS ed in magnitude and height during its progrefs to Rebellion Road As l paffed the town, nearly about the conflux of C..;>.r and JJhley rivers i wasjoined by a column of the fame kind, though not of the fame m gn nide, whichcamedownC..^^i2,W. Though this lalt was not of efual ftrengthorimpetuofitywiththeother, yet on their meetingtoJh^^^^^^^^^^ * tumultuous and whirhng agitations of the air were fepmJn^i I ; .ninfo^uch thacthe froth and vaporraifedb;*S^r„tr?^^^^ • td to be thrown up to the apparent heieht of thirtv fi„ "Y"^"' '^''"- ' towards themiddle, whilft the clouds, fhch we e ifl. ^°"l^'i'''' ■ reaions to this place, appeared to be predpil rf "I 7"^ '" "' "■ « whirled around at the fame time with idwetfelo"v TT' ""^ •i.feUonthefl,ippi„gi„t,.,.^.,„,„:-^:^/^;»^-:^^^ ccxxxiri rc3g«''" "T" .;wiiigi||li^P I CCXJOiT 1 REALITY OF DE FUCA'S * Ikge, though, the diftance Is near two leagues. Five veffels were funk out* * right i his mi^efly's (hip the Dolphin^ which happened to be at anchor juft * on the edge of the colunrin^ 2nd all others in that fituacion, loll their macfts} * the other unfortunate five, which lay in the dircft line of its progrefs, were * inftantaneoufly funk Whether was fM cl'^•le by the immenfe weight of * this column prefllng them into the > t«ii ? m wi»$ it done by the water be- ' ing fuddcnly forced from under atietu, Misi thereby letting them fuik (o * low, as to be immediately covcivd and ingulphed by the lateral mafs of * water? This tremendous column was feen upwards of thirty milcsiouth- * weft from CbarleJiowMt where it arrived twenty-five minutes after two * o'clock, P. M. making «n avenue in it« coui^ ^reat widtij, tearing up * trees, houfes, and every thing that c^^ied j grc« ijuamities of kavcs, * branches of trees, even krge limbs, were feeh fuiioufly driven about and * agitated ir the body of the column as it paffed sJong. When it pafled * Rebellion Ready it went on the ocean, which it < verfpread with trees, * branches, &c. for many miks^ as veflels arriving fpom the northward 4bme ' days afterwards inforrtied us. The flcy was overcaft and cloudy ^ tl« * forenoon j about one o'clock it b^n to thunder, and continued ntK>reor < lefs till three. Tht mercury in Firenb^'s thermomctser, at two o'clock, * ftood tit 77° i by four o'clock the wind^as quite fallen, the fun ftione * out, and the fky was clear and fetenc, «nd not a veftige of the dreadfiH « fcene remaining, but thedifmafted and difttiantled vcffels in the RmuI.' I will now return from this digreffion to the Oregon. I am forry to find diat our illuftrious voyager treats the exiftence of the ftreight, into which that river falls, with a faltidioufnefs very uncommon with hk ufual candor and modcfty. He even denies the river a place in his nrwp. Captain Gook came, on March aad 1778, off a point of land which, with an ifland and fome other circumftances, afforded fuch hopes of having found an entrance, that he gave to that point the name of Cape Flattery. Hard gales, and evdi a fhort ftorm, blew him from this part of the coaft j yet it is now evident, that very cape was the fouthem horn of the mouth of the river Oregofif or of what s new indifputably known to be the long-fcouted ftreights of De Fuca. Be Fuca wts a very able pilot, employed by the viceroy of Mw;V& on voyages of dif- covery. VI VI -SrilZ/T^ ^r/z^fi/lff/l^/- f^ ) j/^^ (f^/l' HI JiatnM,;,,^,. m M ""-? STREIGHTS ESTABLISHED. .former plan, for the d.fcovery of the ftrcighta of Jnian. He found an open.ng or grrat inlet between lat. 47 an4 4*. He failed up tiU He mumed , and. on fome dikontent with the Spaniards, quitted tl.cir W, and went to -^«««, on his way home, being a Cre^ by biith. At^i« he met wtth a Mr. L,ci, either a Bri^i^ or a confiderable condua them to his difcovery of a north^weft pafTage incoThc sZ TJ:' wrote to Sir ^oA)^ Raieigi, ^ to /JxVW^ //,«;^y, • , 5^, ^i:f:ou:^"^^* "^''^' ^-^^ ^ -"'- ^^^' ^^ ^^ p^%^ - ^^^ ^ by Dr i^-^^i had either been forgotten, or his memory ftigma- ^&ms of the fca otters took at Canl^, on the return of the Re/Mon a^^^,« fbmul«ed feveral merchants to fit out veflels for that t^ was the firft adventurer, who failed from the Tjpa in Jrl/ nU Z ^hcd NcctU in the ^^ foUowing. Lieutenant M^,s, of the roTaJ navy iiukd Yrom M^al in 1786. The national infuk we fuffered from ^fP^rJ,, m the peifon of this gendeman, is unknown to none • I flwU only mention Mr. Mfar,s in the eharafter of a brave and fpirited ^coverer In >,, ,788 he entered and explored thefe famous ftreights He found them in Z«/. 48. 5. The land dreary, but often covered with ' immenfe forefts, and the fea abounding with die valuable animal, the IT'tI^^J ^r ^" '^'" '^^^^ *"^ °^^^ ""d«"'^t<^d an^ropo- nTlu I u ^ "* '"'^ furrounding dangers, determined him to quit the ftreights, and feek the open fea. He foon after met with an ^j«.n.^floop the PraJ^i„^,o., and informed the mafler of die difcovery : which he purfued, entered the famous paiTage, and foy«l ^ extenfive eoixxiif* •Purcias, iii. *Hh3 lea, ccxxxiv* DE FONTA'S INLET. fea, with nuftierous and populous ifles, feated on the back of Nootka, and other iflands hitherto fuppofed to have been part of the great conti- nent. The great rivei- Oregon is placed in the charts as entering into the vt.ftern fide of this inl?.nd fea. The Wajhington failed from fouth to north above nine degrees, and came again into the ocean through another found or ftreight, nearly in la*-, ^^t to the fouth of the place named by- Mr. Arrowjmithy Sea Otter Sound. The whole group is named by Mr. Mearesy Princefs Royal Iflands : no part of which, excepting Nootkuy was ever touched at before. We mu-t wait patiently for the great confequences of this difcovery : it probably may approximate to the territories of the Hud- Jon^ s Bay company ; and give, by means of lakes and rivers, a communication with the bay, and by their medium, and thofe of carrying -places, unite the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. I cannot fuppofe thefe are actual freights : the (hores of the bay have been thoroughly inveftigated, and if they had not, Mr. H(?rtr»tf's journey has put the matter beyond the power of doubt. The place that Ihould be fearched fhould be Baffin's Bay : but Ihould we fucceed in meeting with a pervious inlet, the dangers of the floating ice, and the Ihortnefs of the favorable feafon, will, I fear, efl?eAually deftroy the utility of fuch a pafTage. The next difcoverers of the parts fo unfortunately mifled by Captain Cook, were Captain George Dixon, Mr. Strange, Captain Douglas, and Captain Duncan. The firfl: had the honor of difcovering the two great iflands now called ^een Charlotte's Iflands-, Mr. Meares attributes the merit to the captains Lourie and Guire, under Mr. Strange, in the year 1786. I will not enter into the difpute between two gentlemen I have the plealure of knowing; let the proportion of fame be fettled by an im- partial public. I mention the eff^eds of difcovery only in the fl:ate in which I find it. I ftiall now inform the public of the great difcovery of what it has for a long time held equally fabulous with that of De Fuca. De Fonta's inlet is no longer doubted ; yet the entrance, perhaps, not perfedly afcer- tained. Ke probably paflTed between the two Charlotte iflands, through "Xrollo^e river, into Dixon Streight ; from that flxeight he pafled through the ,1 M N O O T K A SOUND. ccxxxv the PrtMcefs Royal Jjland, and then arrived in that great gulph or inland fea difcovered by the fVaJhington, of which we may expeft more perfeft accounts, leading to the moft important confequences. We have in Mr. Meares's voyage (Introd. Lxir.) a hint of a difcovery through the inland fea, into the vicinity of HudjWs Bay. A little time will either difprove this communication, or reduce it to a certainty : we will therefore, in the prefent doubtful ftate, conclude, that we may pronounce the ^-rollope nver to have been De Fonta's inlet, and the Charlotte and the Prince/s Royal IJlandsy his Archipelago of St, Lazarus *. In lat. 49, Captain Cook found a fecure (helter in an harbour called by Nootka Sou him Ktng George's Sound ; by the natives, Nootka. The Ihores are rocky f ; but within the Sound appears a branch of the range I before mentioned It IS here divided into hills of unequal heights, very fteep, with ridged fides, and round blunted tops ; in general cloathed witn woods to the very fummits. In the few exceptions, the nakednefs difcovers their compo- fition, which is rocky, or in parts covered with the adventitious foil of rotten trees or mofles. The trees were the Pirns Canaden/is, or Canada Pine ; the P. Syhejlris, or Scotch Vmt, and two or three other forts; Cuprejfus Tbyoides, or the White Cedar. The Pines of this neighborhood are of a great fize : fome are a hundred and twenty feet high, and fit for mafts or fliip-building % ; but the dimenfions of fome of the canoes in Nootka Sound bei): Oiew their vaft bulk— they are made of a fingletree, hollowed fo as to contain twenty perfons, and are feven feet broad, and three deep. They are the fame with the monoxyla of the antient Germans and Gauls ^, but conftrudlcd with much more elegance. The old Europeans were consent if they could but float. They probably were farmed on the fame rude model as thofe of the ■ • Thofe who win, for fullc. information .ray confult Mr. ilW/s Voyage, on the proba- bihty of a north-weft paflkg., deduced from the obfervations on the letter of ^dm Dc Fonta, publillicd by The. Jeje^^s, i;68. ' t Voyage, ii. 290. tab. 86, 87. ' J Barringtcn's Mi/cell 290. § Poly^n. Slratagen. lib. v. c. z^.^Fe!. PaUrc. lib. ii. c. 107. Hh5 old CCXXXVI I Birds. NOOTKA SOUND. old Virginians *, or of the antient Britons, fimilar to one I have feen dug up in a morafs in Scotland, as artlefs as a hog-trough ■\. Thofe of Nootka Sound are at the head tapered into a long prow, and at the ftern they de- creafe in breadth, but end abrupt. The day-tides rife here, two or three days after the full and new moon, eight feet nine inches. The night-tides, at the fame periods, rife two feet higher. Pieces of drift wood, which the navigators had placed dur- ing day out of the reach (as they thought) of the tides, were in the night floated higher up, fo as to demonftrate the great increafe of the nodlurnal flux :{:. I have defcribed, to the beft of my power, the quadrupeds and birds of the American part of this voyage. In the Zoological part I have given my fufpicions of certain animals of the Sheep kind being natives of this neighborhood and California ; but am not fufficiently warranted to pro- nounce them to be the fame with the Argali or wild Sheep. Woollen garments are very common among the people of this Sound, and are manufaftured by the women. The materials of many of them feem taken from the Fox and the Lynx ; others, I prefume, from the exqui- fite down of the Musk Ox. The only peculiar animal of thefe parts is the Sea Otter : it extends fcuthward along the coaft, as far as lat. 49,. and as high as 60. The other quadrupeds obferved by the navigators are common to the eaftern lide of North America, I may mention, diat fmall Perroquets, and Parrots with red bills, feet, and brcafl:s, were leen by M. Maurelle about Port 'Trinidaday in lat 41, 7 j. and greLit flocks of Pigeons in the fame neighborhood §. This was in June : they might have been on their migration when our navigators reach- ed the coafl:s, which was on March 29th. As to the Parrots, it is pofTible that thofe birds may not extend io far north as Nootka i for on the eaftern ♦ Brevis et fida Ncirratio Virginia, in which are engraven the canoes of the country, taken from the drawiiinrs of Jc/ji: IVith; fcnt there wltli T/jo. Ilarrio/, by Sir JVahcr Raleigh, who communicated ihem to De Bry. — See tab. xii. ai:d xlii. of the Account rf Florida. t Tour SiOiL'u. p. 106. X ^o)7jg-c, ii. 339, § Scs Barri/ig/on't Mi/hll. /^Sg, ^02. fide NOOTKA SOUND. fide of the continent they do not inhabit higher, even in fummer, than the province of Virginia^ in lat. 39 i or, in the midland parts, than lat. 41. 15, where they haunt in multitudes the fouthern fides of tlie lakes Erie and Michigam, and the banks of the rivers Jilinois and Ohio. Another deli- cate fpecies of bird was feen here in plenty, a kind of Honey-fucker or Humming-bird, a new fpecies i which I have defcribed under the title of the Ruffed. Among the water-fowl were feen the Grea-^ Black Petrel, or the ^lebratttahuejfos, or Bone-breaker of the Spaniards, which feems to be found from the Awn/ifles to Terra delFuego; the Northern Diver, a great flock of Black Ducks with white heads j a larg pedes of White Ducks with red bills ; and Swans flying northward to their breed- ing-places : common Corvorants were alfo very frequent. The inhabitants of this Sound alter in their appearance from thoft who live more fouthern. They are in general below the middle ftature j plump, but not mufcular : their vifage round, fi.ill, and with prominent cheeks j above which the face is comprefl!ed from temple to temple : the noflirils wide: nofo flat, with a rounded point j through thcjepium narium of many is introduced a ring of iron, brafs, or copper : eyes fmall, black, languifli- ing : mouth round : lips large and thick : hair of the head thick, fl:rong, black, long, and lank ; that on the eye-brows very thin : neck fhort and thick: limbs fmall and ill-made: flcin a pallid white, where it can be viewed free from dirt or paint. The women are nearly of the fame form and fize as the men, but undiftinguifliable by any feminine foftnefs. Many of the old men have great beards, and even muflrachios i but the younger people in general feem to have plucked out the hair, except a little on the end of the chin. Their drefs confifts of mantles and cloaks, well manufadured amono- themfelves, and either woollen, matting, or ^me material correfpondf-nt to hemp. Over their other cloaths the men frequently throw the fkin of fome wild beafl:, which ferves as a great cloak. The head is covered with a cap made of matting, in form of a truncated cone, or in that of a flower- vafe, with the top adorned with a pointed or round knob, or with a bunch of leathern tafl"els. Their whole bodies are incrufied with paint or dirt, I i and ccxxxvir Men. "0* ccxxxvni II ) NOOTKA SOUND. .nd they are a moft fquallid offenfivc race, filent. and uncommonly lazy, eafily provoked to violent anger, and as foon appeafed. The men are totally deftitute of (hame: the women behave Jth the utmoft jrotlefty and even bafl>ful„e6. I ftould not repeat what has been ra,d of the infinite variety of hideons mafques this nation poffeffes, and feems particularly fond of, was not the ingenious Editor of the Voyage at a^ofs for the,r.ntent, whether for religious or for mafquerading purpofet. M,.fi^«r.» J proves that thefe mafques extend to the eaftern ftde of the contment, and that their ufe, in thofe parts, was fportive , for he was plagued one „,g|,t wth the buffoonery of a fellow, who came into his lodgings vamfted m a manner as .f he meant to be taken for a hobgoblin. 1 he 0/«i, ,0 this day, in their dances put on mafques. change their drefles frequently, and imitate the forms of beafts and birds, and offen in a manner fo ftnking and fatirical, that one is furprized to hear of fo perfeft a pantomniie among fuch a favage people. But would not ignoLce or fuperftifon afcnbe to a fupernatural metamorphofis thefe temporary expe- dients to deceive the brute creation, or to afford amufement to their countrymen by thefe frolicfome mafquerades ? The A.n„„ may hunter^ did, who feU by the hand of CamW.. Drefs and arms were Caput ingens oris hiatus, Et malac texere lupi, cum dentibus albis : Agreftifque manus armat fparus, „ '^'"''''■'"'P'' """ '"^'•^ ^°'"' P^g'-^ft in the imitative arts; for, befides their fki 1 in the fculpture of their mafques, which they cut into the (hape of the headr of various fpecies of beafts and birds, they are capable of .heir caps the whole progrefs of the Whale-filhcry. I have feen a fmall • f'eyage, ii. 319. t Same, 307. t Travels, 43. I bow NOOTKA SOUND. ccxxxrx bow made of bone, which was brought by the navigators from this fide of North America^ on which was engraven, very intelligibly, every objcd of the chace. I could diftinguilh the Elk, the Reir., the Virginian Deer, and the Dog; the Walrus, and the Seal, wi:';i the harpooning of Whales from boats or canoes of two kinds. The chace of birds was not omitted, for a man is to be feen driving a large flock, probab'y of Getfe or Swans, during the feafon of moulting, a method '^f capture very rommon in many countries.— With what facility might be reclamed and civilized a people fo ftrongly pofleflcd with a difpoficion towards the liberal arts ! I have caufed this Angular bow to be engraven j and, in the fame plate, that moft terrific Tomahawk of Nooika Sound, called the taaweep or 'fjujkeah. The olten- five part is of ftone, reprefenting a tongue flung out in defiance, as is cuftomary with many favage nations." It iflues from a fculpture in wood refembling a human face, in which are fl:uck human and other teeth : and, to give it a fulnefs of horror, long Jocks of fcalpcd hair are placed on fe- veral parts, waving, when brandifted by the warriors, (who feed on the flefti of their enemies) in a moft dreadful manner. From lat. 55. 20, towards the north, the country increafcs in height, cfpecially inland, where a range of very lofty mountains, mon:ly covered with fnow, is feen nearly parallel with the coafl, a branch of thofe I. have before mentioned. Above lat. 56 the coafl: is broken into bays and harbours. In this neighborhood Captain -ijchirikow, confort to the great RussianVoyace. navigator Behring, who was feparated from his commander by a fl:orm, was fo unfortunate as to touch on an open part of the coaft, in about kt. 55, in which he anchored in a moft dangerous fltuation, full of rocks. Having loft his fliallop,and after that his fmall boat, with part of his crew, which he had fent on Ihore to water, and which were deftroyed by the natives, he was obliged to return from his inefl^eftual voyage*. A vaft conic mountain, called by Captain Cook Mount Edgecumbe f, rifes pre- eminent above all the others. This is in lat. 57. 3, long. 224. 7. Not remote from hence is the Bay of Iflands, the fame as the Port los Retnedios, * Voy. \£ DccowverUi fie ': T^f, i. 250. f Cook V Voy. «. 344, tab. 86. I i a nearly Mou W T EUCECVMSC. p* J II CCXL NOOTKA SOUND. nearly the ne plus of the Span'ifl) expedition of 1775. The adventurers comforted themlelves with having reached lat. 58, and having attained the higheft latitude ever arrived at in thefc Teas*. This coall, as well as the reft, continued covered with woods. A high peaked mountain, Moui.t Fair-weather ^ and the inlet Crofs Sound, next appear. The firft is the higheft of a chain of fnowy moun- tains, which lie inland about five leagues, in lat. 58. 52. The land between them and the fea was very low, for the trees Teemed to arife owt of the wate.". Several fea-birds, with a black ring round the head ; the tip of the tail, ar i upper pari: of the wings, marked with black; the body bluifli above, white beneath, came in viewj and on the water fat a brownilh Duck, with a deep blue or black head f. In lat. 59. 18, is a bay, with a wooded ifle off its fouth point, named by Captain Cook, Behrinc's; in honor of the illul^rious Dane who firft difcovered this part of America, and, as was conjcdlured, anchored there for a fmall fpace. The appea:ance of the country was terrific i it con- fifted of lofty mountains (in July) cc /ered with fnow : but the chain is interrupted near this port by a plain of a few miles iu extent j beyond which the view was unlimited, having behind it a continuance of level country, or fome great lake. He had not leilure to make obfervations j he only named a cape, which advanced into the fea, Cape El- as % : this is not at prefent known ; but the name of Mount Eiias was beftowed by- Captain Cook on a very confpicuous mountain ||, which lay inland to the north-weft of the bay, in lat. 60. 15. Behring, during the Ihort ftay he made on the coaft, fent his boat on ihore to procure water. That great natwalift, Steller, companion of the voyage, took the opportunity of landing. The whole time allotted him was only fix hours j during which he colleded a few plants, and fhot that beautiful fpecies of Jay, N° 139, to which I have given his name. He returned on board with the regret a man of his zeal muft feel at the • Barrington's Mifcel. 507. f Cooit^ Foy. ii. 347. I Vtj. ^ Dtrnmertu, L Z54.-.C00K, ii. 347, 383. || Cqck, ii. tab. 86. neceffity NOOTKA SOUND. CCXLI neceflity of fo flight an examination in Co annple a field. What he could have done, had circutnftances permitted, is evident from the excellent colleftion he formed of natural hiftory rcfpe6ling Kamf/chatka, and fomc of its iflands*. Among the plants fount! by him on the American continent were, Plantago major, Sp. PI. i. iby. Great Plantane, Fl. Scot. x.w-j.K. Virg. : Plantago Jfuitica, Sp. PI. i. 163. K.i Polemonium Caruleam, Sp. PI. i. 230: Greek Valerian, HudJoHy'u 89. K.: Lonicera Xylojleum, Fl. Sib. iii. 129. Kr. Ribes Mpimim, Sp. PI. i. 291. Fl. Scot. i. 146. K,\ Rihes grojfularia, Sp. PI. 1.291; Goofcberries, K. Virgr. Claytonia Virginica? Sp. PI. i. 294. K. yirg,'. Heuchera Americam? Sp. PI. i. 3^8. K.'. Heracleum Pamces, Sp. PI. i. 358 i or Cow ParfnepjA'. which he found in one of die habita- tions of the natives, tied up in bundles t ready for ufc. (I have men- tioned, at p. cxcvii. the application of it in Kamtjchatka, for the purpofes of diltilling an intoxicating liquor; but the Americans are fortunate enough to be ignorant of that art, and only ufe it as ?. food.) Vacdnium Myrtillusy Sp. PI. i. 498 ; Bilberries, Fl. Scot. i. 200. K. : Vaccinium Vitis Idaa, Virg. Sp. PI. i. 500; Red Whortle-berries, Fl. Scot. i. 202. K.: Erica, Fl. Sib. 131, N" 22. K. : Adoxa Mojchatellina, Sp. PI. i. 527 ; tube- rous Mofchatel, Fl. Scot. i. 209. K.: Riibits Idaus, Sp. PI. i. 706; Raf- berry-bufli, Fl. Scot. i. 263. K.: Fragaria Vcjca, Sp. PI. i. 708 j Wood Strawberry, Fl. Scot. i. 267. Virg. K.: the Leontodon Taraxicum, Virg. B. Sp. PI. ii. 1122; or common Dandelion, Fl. Scot. i. 433: Ahfintbiumy Sp. PI. ii- 1188; or common Wormwood, Fl. Scot.'u 467: Artcmifta Vulgaris, Sp. PI. ii. 1188; or Mugwott, FL Scot. \. 468: Gnaphalium Dioicum, Sp. PI. ii. 1199; Mountain Cudv'ccd, or Cat's-foot, Fl. Scot. i. j^no. K.: After feu potius Heleniumfruticojum, Fl. Sib. ii. 175, 5. A", with beautiful yellow flowers: Erigeron acre, Sp. PI. ii. 1211 ; Blue Fleabane, Fl. Scot. i. 474. K.'. Cbryfanthemum Leucanthemumt ii. 1251; Great Daify, or Ox-eye, FL Scot. i. 488. 5. K. Virg. : Pyrethrum, Fl. Sib. ii. 203, Plant*. i • yey. i£ Decowvertest'i, 257. •J- Dicawvtrtci faitts par Us Ruffes, i, 256.— rojflj^ ii. tab. 86. N' , ^^.-ii,4A^*AmK^' mm^ ccxm K A Y E'S IS V m 1 I Kaye'sIslandi* LAND. vege«bls, to'fhcw tt lift diltr"' j', '""" "'f ""^'' "^ ""^ ^""^ derated by the Reve end M ;,^ "/. ""' '^"'""S the plants enu- ana fot^ ate to bell'^ l^.^^fS': ""' ^™" "^^ ^ ^-'"^■'' Pine, which grows to an ennmv^ c ^ '^'°' '^ "'""^ '"' '^^"""«^ .he CW. pine, tie oTrrthtpi^r ^r^"'"' "'• "^ '^^'• -' --■-:: ::rjd,t i^r: ;: s^^::S^:. :u:ed^:^;"rbir '""*• °^-'- Albattofles. the r„ow, G„„s, ani TrlrcrZ? td" ""T poor woods which encircled the .Hand like a girdle, were e „' a Cro ', «h.te.headed Eagle, and another fpecies equflly larJe of a bhct ', with a white breaft ^ ^ ' ' backer color, Ae fpeues belonging to each country. In refpeft to ihells, Mr. ^Z «'J^i"::f '"""' """"' "■' *• '"^^-- p'"»" of A'..*^«.v., vol. i. J t 'V^-, ii. so.. , sa„., „b. 8s. of PRINCE WILLIAM'S SOUND. of Great Marlborough Street, has, with great fkill and moft uncommon elegancy, given us the figures of all that he could colleft out of the South Sea. In his 1 6th Table is the Sattin Limpet from Nootka Sound. In Tab. 1 8. The bonnet Limpet. Tab. 34. The ribbed Trochus. Tab. 4j. The ridged Buccinum. Tab. 44. The plaited Buccinum, Tab. 46. The file Buccinum. Tab. 47. The bellied Buccinum, Tab. 66. The leafed Purpura. Tab. 76. ThebrownrmA«j*.— All thefe the pro- dudions of Nootka. Taeir colors are plain : but their forms elegant. After doubling a cape, called by our great navigator, Hinchinl>roke% he anchored in a vaft found, named by him Prince miliam'sy in lat. 61. '30. fecured by a long idand, called Mountague's, ftretching obliquely acrofs from north-eaft to fouth-weft. The land round this harbour rofe to a vaft height, and was deeply covered with fnow j. Vegetation in thefe part* feemed to leffen. The principal trees were the Canadian and Spruce Firs, and fome of them moderately large. Befides the quadrupeds found at Nootka, there is a variety of Bear of a white color ; I will not call it the Polar, as that animal inhabits only the fevereft climates, where it can find dens of fnow and ifies of ice. An ani- mal of the ermine kind, varied with brown, but the tail fcarcely tipt with black. Wolverenes were here, of a very brilliant color ; and the earlefs Marmot was very common. None of thefe were feen living, but their (kins were brought in abundance as articles of commerce. The Ikin of the head of the male leonine Seal was alfo offered to fale; \a CCXLIIf • Thefe are ranged in theoider they ftand in his elaborate performance. t Voyage, ii. tab. 86. J See the piiflurefque view oiSnug Corner Cev*, tab. 45. Prince William** Sound. 'QUADRVFEDSr the 4 iii il m ''V m ill; ' l! '! CCXLIV Birds. Men, PRINCE WILLIAM'S SObND, the Voyage it is called the Urjiftei but from the great (haggincfs of the hair I prefume I am not wrong in my conjefture. This is the only place in the northern hemifpherc in which it was found by the navi- gators *. Among the birds were the black Sea Pies with red bill; , obferved be. fore in Fan Diemen's Land and New Zealand. A Duck, equal in fize to our Mallard, with a white bill tinged with red near the point, and marked with a black fpot on each fide near the bafe: on the forehead a large white triangular fpot, and a larger on the hind part of the neck : the reft of the plumage dufky : the tail ftiort and pointed : the legs red. The female was of duller colors, and the bill was far lefs gay. Another fpecies refembled the fmall one found at Kerguellen's Land. A Diver (Qrebe ?) of the fize of a Partridge ; with a black compreflcd 111: head and neck black: upper part of the body deep brown, obfcurely waved with black; the lower part dufky, fpeckled minutely with white. Honey- fuckers, probably migratory in this high latitude, frequently flew round the fliips f . MA>fKiND here fhew a variation from the laft defcribed. The natives are generally above the common ftature, but many below it : luare- built or ftrong-chefted : their heads moft difproportionably large, their faces flat, and very broad: their necks fliort and thick: their eyes fmall in comparifon to the vaft breadth of their faces : their nofes had full round points, turned up at the end : their hair long, thick, black, and ftrong : their beards either very thin or extirpated j for feveral of the old men had large, thick, but ftrait beards : their countenances generally full of vivacity good-nature, and franknefs, not unlike the Crijiinaux, a people who live far inland, betw-en the litde and the great lakes Ouinepique. On the con- trary, the inhabitants oi Nootka in their dulnefs refemble \\it AJfmibouels who live on the weftern fide J: and thefe two nations may have been de- rived from a common ftock with the maritime tribes whom we have had occafion to mention. The Ikins of the natives of this found were fwarthy Vej. ii. m. t Same, 378. X Dobbt, 24. poflibly PRi >rCE WILLIAM'S SOTTND. CCXLV poflibly from going often naked ; for the fkins of mn .< of the women, and the children, were white, but pallid. Many of the women we c dif- tinguifhablc from the men by the c'elicacy of their features, which was far fron le cafe with thofe of Nootkn. In ihefe parts, within the dii? ace of ten tiegrees, is a change of both drefs ai J manners. The cloak and mantle are here changed for a clofe h bit, made of the (kins of di . ent beafts, ufually with the hair ^ itwards j or of the (kins of birds, with only the down remaining; fome with ' cape, others with a hood : ^>ver which, in rainy weather, is worn a garment like a carter's frock, with rge flecves, and tight round the neck, made of the inteftines probabl}' of the whale, and as fine as gold-beater's leaf. On the hands are always worn mittens, made of th. paws of a bear; and the legs are covered with hofe, reaching to midway the thigh. The head is gene- rally bare; but thofe who wea ny thing, ufe the high truncated conic bonneti like the people oi Nootka*. In this place only was obferved the Calumet; a (lick about three feet long, with lirge f rhers, or the wings of birds, tied to it. This was held up as a fign o" peace. I leave the reader to amufe himfeii' in the voyage, by the account of the ftrange cuftom of the natives in cuttiii^ through their under lip, and giving themfelves the monrtrous appearance of two mouths f: in the orifice they ^ lace a bit of bone or (hell by way of ornament. This cuftom extends to the diftant MofquitoSy and even to the BraftliansXt but feems un- known in other parts of America. — I endeavour to confine myfelf to paf- fages which may lead to trace the origin of the people. Thefe paint their faces, and punfture or tattow th "r chins. They are moft remarkably- clean in their food, and in their manner of eating it, and even in the keep- ing of their bowls and veflels. In their perfons they are equally neat and decent, and free from greafe or dirt§: in this they feem an exception to all other favages. ..;>' • Voyage, \\. '/'S.^Sg. De Biy. Brafil, 165. t Same, 369, tab. 46, 47. § Voyage, luij/^. K k J Damfier,i. 32, They IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // M/ U.A ^ 1.0 l.i 1.25 UitlM 1112,5 110 1^ i^ ill 2-2 If I4£ lillO t,, ^ 6" 1.8 U IIIIII.6 rd y . ■: , i CCXI.VI COOK'S RIVER. Boats. They have two kinds of boats j one large, open, and capable of con- taining above twenty people. It is made of the flcins of marine animals, diftended on ribs of wood, like the viiilia navigia of the BritonSy at the time in which they were on a level with thefe poor Americans j or like the woman's boat of the Greenlanders and EJkimaux. The canoes are exadly of the fame conftruftion with thofe of the latter j and the difference of both is very trivial. The canoes of thefe Americans are broader than thofe of the eaftern fide of the continent i and fome have two circular apertures, in order to admit two men *. Every weapon which thefe people have for the chace of quadrupeds or fifh, is the fame with thofe ufed by the Greenlanders : there is not one wanting. From Prince William' 9 {ovindi the land trends north-weft, and terminates Cape Bede. in two headlands, called Cape Elizabeth and Cape Bede j thefe, with Cape Banks on the oppofite fiiore, form the entrance into the vaft eftuary of Cook's river; in the midft of which are the naked ifles, diftinguifhed by the name of the Barren. Within, to the weft, is a lofty two-headed mountain, called Cape Douglas i which is part of a chain of a vaft height, in which was a vulcano, at the time this place was vifited^ emitting white fmoke: and in the bottom of a bay, oppofite to it, is an ifland, formed of a lofty mountain, on which was beftowed the name ^°lvl'.\l'J^''' °^ ^°""' ^^- M^fiine\. The eftuary is here of a great breadth, owing to a bay running oppofite to Mount Augufiine deeply to the eaft. Cook's River. The eftuary of Cook's river is of great length and extent. The river begins between Anchor Point and the oppofite fliore, where it is thirty miles wide : the depth very confiderable, and the ebb very rapid. Far within, the channel contrafts to four leagues, through wlxich rufhes a pvodioious tide, agitated like breakers againft rocks. The rife of the tide in this con- fined part was twenty-one feet. It was examined feventy leagues from the entrance, as far as lat. 61. 30, long. 210, and its boundaries were found to be flat, fwampy, and pooriy wooded, till they reached the foot of the Voyage, ii. 371. t See the chart, ii. tab. 44.. Great coo K'S RIVER* CCXLVII great mountains. Towards the north, it divides into two great branches, or perhaps diftinft rivers. That to the eaft is diftinguifhed by the name of Turn-again river. The firft is a league wide, and navigable, as far as was tried, for the largefc fhips, and continued very brackilh; there is therefore the greateft probability of its having a very long courfe, and be- ing, in after times, of confiderable ufe in inland navigation : that it is of fome even at prefent is very certain ; for here, as well as in Prince William'^ found, the Indians were poflefled of glafs beads and great knives of £«^/i/i& manufadlure, which the Hud/on^ bay company annually fend in great quantities, and exchange for furs with the natives, who travel to our fettle- ments very far from the weft* The company alfo fend copper and brafs veffelsj but neither copper or iron in bars. There does not feem to be ^ any direft dealings with the Indians of this coaft : the traffic is carried on by intermediate tribes, who never think of bringing furs to a people fo amply fupplied as the Indians are who deal with our fadtories. Nations who ufe the moft precious furs merely as a defence from the cold, make no diftindion of kinds : if they could get more beads or more knives for the Ikins of Sea Otters than any other, they would inftantly become articles of commerce, and find their way aci ^s the continent to the European fettlements. From 'turn-again ri/er to the neareft part oiUudJon'% bay, is fifty-five degrees, or about fixteen hundred miles j but from the moft weftern part o{ ArapatbeJcQW lake (which is intermediate) is only twenty-fix degrees, of about feven hundred and fifty miles. There is no difcharge out of that vaft water but what runs into Hudfon*^ bay. We have fome obfcure ac- counts of rivers * which take a weftern courfe from the countries eaft of this coaft: fome of which may be thofe which have been feen by our navi- gators, and which, by means of lakes or other rivers falling into them, may prove a channel of intercourfe between thefe Indians and the Hudjon's, bay • Particularly from one Jofiph de la France, who, in 1739, made a very long journey to the weft, and was a very obfervant man. See Dobbs, Hudfon's Bay, zi, 34, 35. K k 2 company CCXLVII! ALASCHKA Docs. Cape St.Hermo GENES. Alaschka, con- tine NT of Ame- rica. Kadjak. company, as foon as our friendly Indians become acquainted with the value of thefe maritime furs. The inhabitants of Cook's river differed very little from thofe o( Prince William's found. They had Dogs, which were the firft feen on the coafts j ' S'-a Otters, Martins, and white Hares : arid they were plentifully fupplied with Salmon and Holibut. After leaving the entrance into the river, appears Cape St. Hemogenes, difcovered firft by Behring. It proved a naked lofty illand, about fix leagues in circuit, and divided from the coaft by a channel a league broad. This lies in lat. 58. 15, off the vaft peninfula Alajchkay which begins between the eftuary of Cook's river and5r/>/bay, which bound its ifthmus. It points fouth-weft, and continues the crefcent formed by the iflands which crofs the fea from Kamtfchatka. Alajcbka is the only name given by the natives to the continent ^i America. The land to the weft of Cook's river rifes into mountains, with conoid tops thickly fet together. The coaft is frequently bold, and the rocks break into pinnacles of pi6lurefqu& forms : the whole is fronted by groups of ifies and clufters of fmall rocks. In a word, the country and fhores ars the moft rugged and disjointed imaginable, and bear evident marks of having undergone fome extraordi- nary change. Among the ifles, thofe o{ Schoumagin are the moft important, which re- ceived their name from having been the place of interment of one of Behring's crew, the firft which he loft in thefe feas. The principal lies the fartheft to the weft, and is called Kadjak: it is about a hundred verfts Ion? and from twenty to thirty broad; and, from the account oi Bemetrim Bragin, who vifited it from Oonalajhka in 1776, is very populous. The inhabitants fpoke a language different from thofe of that ifland : it feemed a dialed of the Greenlanders. They called their wooden Ihields Kuyaky probably becaufe they refemble a kaiak, or a little canoe, a Greenland ^oA for that fpeciesof boat; and themfelves Kanagiji, as the others ftyle them- felves Karalit. They have likewife the woman's boat, like the people of Prince William's found: in faft, they feem to be the fame people, but more refined. They were armed with pikes, bows and arrows, and wooden ihields. HOLIBUT ISLE. CCXLIX fliields. Their fhirts were made of the fkins of birds; alfo of the EARLESS Marmot, Foxes, and Sea Bears, and fome of fifties Ikins. Dogs, Bears, common Otters, and Ermines, were obferved here. Their dwellings were made with timber, and were from fifteen to twenty fathoms long, covered with a thatch and dried grafs. Within they were divided into compartments for every family, and every compartment lined neatly with mats. The entrance was on the top, covered with frames, on which were fl:retched the membranes of dried inteftines inftead of glafs*. Thefe people feemed to have made far greater progrefs in the arts than their neighbors. They worked their carpets in a very curious manner -, on one fide clofe fet with beaver wool. The Sea Otters flcins which they brought for fale were in fome parts fliorn quite clofe with Iharp ftones, fo that they gliftened and appeared like velvet. They ftiewed ftrong proofs of genius in their invention to preferve themfelves from the efFefts of the Ruffian fire-arms. They had the fpirit to make an attack, and formed Ikreens with three parallel perpendicular rows of ftakes, bound with fea-weeds and ofiersj their ^ ^gth was twelve feet, and thick- nefs three : under the ftielter of thefe they marched j but their fuccefs was not correfpondent to their plan f : a fally of the Ruffians difconcerted them, and put them to the rout. The ifland confifts of hills muced with lowlands. It abounds with bulbs, roots, and berries, for food; with flirubs, and even trees fuffi- ciently large to be hollowed into canoes capable of carrying five perfonsj. In this kind of boat they differ from thofe of the Greenlanders, Off the extremity of the peninfula of Alafcbka is Holibut ifland, in Holibut Isle, lat. 54, rifing into a lofty pyramidal mountain, lying oppofite to the narrow fliallow ftreight which lies between the ifle Oonmaka and Alafcbka, * From a MS. communicated to me by Dr. Pallas, Br agin was commander of a veflel which was fitted out by the merchants on a voyage to the new-difcovered iflands, and failed from Qchotjk i\\ 1772. About ten years prior to this, another voyage was made to Kadjak by Stephen Glottoff, — See Coxe^s Difc. 108. i Cexe'i Ruf. P'/c,i2> ' tMS. The CCL OONEMAK, OONALASHKA, OONEMAK AND OONALASHKA: The chain on the continent is f«n to rife into ftupendous heights, covered w,th fnow: among them feveral of the hilk appear to rife inflted, and of JTJ°T. u" "r ' "*'"""'' "'"§'■"6 "P ^l"™" °f W^clc fmoke to a great neight'. then ftreaming before the wind wid, a tail of vaft leneth and p,a«refque appearance. It often toolc a direftion contrary to L point the w,nd blew from at fea, notwithftanding there wa, a freft gale! a demonftrafon of the exiftence of a contrary current of air in the tfppe reg^n to that wh.ch was below. It lies in lat. 54. 48 north, long '5 fouthern hem,fphere, as low at left as that of St. a«^, in cm. in lat. 45. JO. ..nlL^'n'^T "^^''-^'^^ "* '^P'' ''^ "-^ °mC'tc to it an ifland from it bT " """"''' 1 ""'^ ' "-*»<'- breadth, feparated from ,t by a very narrow and Ihallow channel, fituated in lat. J4. 30, and leadmg ,„„ s„>/ bay, pervious only by boats or very fmall veffels tZ 2 '2^r , "'"' '°"^' "^ ^'°'" ''^™ '" •"■'«" •"•"^d' -d has ■"> the middle a vulcano. Jn the low parts feveral hot fprings burft forth to at fond :;rh"' "i. "^ '" °^ "'* ^'^ ™' '' "»"' -^ *=? - alio fond of bathing in the temperate parts f. To the weft are the fmall illes of 0.«.//« and Jcoofan: at a fmall diftancc from them is Oo^alaMa or JghSun-alaiJ^at a name evidently referring to T Tu'r'' ^^ ^^' '""^ "^ ^^"Sth a hundred and twenty vedls, its breadth from ten to eighteen. It is the moft remote of the Rujan colonies Mrho have now made fettlements on moft of the ides between ^> and Jm,^ Tx^^^rTt f ^ 'T '^P"r '^"^"^"^^"* ^""^ ^«W from Oc^o^/, or Kamj/chafka lafts three or four years, and is folely undertaken fo 'e fake of the Ikins of Sea Otters. Poffibly other reafons will, in a little time, induce them to attempt the colonization of the continent. Timber may be one , for their northern 4fiatic dominions and their idands yield npne. I forefee docks and timber-yards in all convenient places. At • See the plate, N" 87, vol. ii. for the feveral views. t Sragin's Foy. MS. j Doitor Pallas, MS. prefent, MANNERS OF THE INHABITANTS. prefent, the natives of thefe ifles have only the (kin-covered canoes*, and even for the ribs they are obliged to the chance of drift-wood. In thefe, in drefs, and in weapons, they refemble the EJkimam. The language is a dialeft of the EJkimaux. They are rather of low ftature. They have fhort necks, fwarthy chubby faces, black eyes, and ftraight long black hair. The falhion of wearing feathers or bits of fticks in their nofes is ufed in Oonalajhka. Both fcxes cut their hair even over their foreheads : the men wear theirs loofe behind) the females tie theirs in a bunch on the top of their head : the firft wear long loofe frocks, of the flcins of birds j the lafl: of the fkins of Seals. The men fling over their frocks another, of the guts of the cetaceous animals, dried and oiled, to keep out the water fj and, to defend their faces from the veather, they wear a piece of wood, like the front of the bonnet of an Englijh lady |. Some ufe the bonnet in the form of the truncated cone. The women (lightly tattow their faces, and often wear a ftring of beads pendent from their nofes j both fexes perforate their under lip, but it is very uncommon to fee any except the females (tick in it the ornamental bone. The nofe-ornaments extend far inland on the .continent; for the Americans, who trade with the Hud/on's bay company, ufe them : but from the figures given by I>e Bry, they do net feem ever to have reached the people of Virginia and Florida. They inhabit jourtSt or fubterraneous dwellings, each common to many families, in which they live in horrible fiithinefs : but they are remarkably civilized in their behaviour j and have been taught by the Ruffians to pull off their caps, and to bow, in their falutations. They bury their dead on the fummits of hills, and raife over the fpot a barrow of ftones §, in the manner cuftom.ary in all the north of Europe in very early days. On the north fide of the promontory Alafchkoy the water decreafes confi- derably in depth, and the mountains recede towards the bottom far inland, and leave a large tra6t of low land between them and the fea. Here it • See their boats, tab. 50, X Foyagt/ii. J 10. + See their dreHesjtab. 48, 49, 56, 57, § Same, 521. CCLZ Nativss. Barrow3> forms CCLII BRISTOL BAY AND RIVER. Gore's Isle. ^A "J Ri v«T ^°"^' * ^"' ^^y* ^"^"^^ ^^^i^"^' ^"^ * ^^^ "^«'' a' t^e end, with an entrance a mile broad, featcd in lat. 58. 27. Cape Newenham, lat. 58. 42, a rocky promontory, is the northern horn of the bay, eighty-two leagues from Cape Oonemak, its fouthern : an univerfal barrennefs, and want of vegeta- tion, appeared in the neighborhood of the former. The Walruses be- gan, the 15th of July, to Ihew themfelves in great numbers about this place : a proof that ice is not effential to their exiftence. The inhabitants of this coaft were dreffed much more fqualidly than thofc before feen j but, like the others, d med their nofes and lips. They fliaved their head or cut the hair ciofe, and only left a few locks behind or on one fide, fomewhat in the Chinefe falhion. From Cape Newenham, the continent runs due north. To the weft is Gore's ifiand, diftinguifhed by a vaft cliff, in lat. 60. 17, long. 187. 30, called Point Upright i and near it a moft rugged, high, rocky ifiet, named the Pinnacles*. Myriads of the Auk tribe haunted thefe precipices. This feems the extreme northern refort of the Sea Otter. From Sboal-nefs, in lat, 60, long. 196, there is a gap in the American geography, as far as Point Shattota Water, lat. 62. 50 j and not far from thence were the fymptoms of the difcharge of fome great river, from the uninveftigated part. Beyond Point Shallow, in lat. 63. 23» is Cape Cape Stephens. Stephens -, and before it, at a fmall diftance, Stuart's ifle. Thefe make the fouthern points of Norton's Sound, formed by a vaft recefs of the land to the eaft. All the land near the fea is low and barren, bounded inland by mountains. The trees, which were Birch, Alder, Willow, and Spruce, very fmall j none of the laft above fix or eight inches in diameter: but the drift-wood, which lay in plenty on the ftiore, much larger j having been brought down the rivers from land more favorable to its growth. Towards the bottom of the found. Cape Denbigh juts far to the weft into the water, and forms a peninfula. It has been an iflandj for there are evident marks on the ifthmus, that the fea had once poffeffed its place: a proof of the lofs Sea Otters. ■* See tab. 87. of CAPE DARBY. CCLIII CapeDarbt. Natives. of the clement of water in thcfc parts, as well as in otlier remote parts of the globe. The found, from Cape DenHgb, is fuddenly contrafted, and is converted into a deep inlet, feemingly the reception of a large river. The continent, in thtfe parts, confifts of vaft plains, divided by moderate hills; the former watered by feveral rivers meandering through them. Vegetation improves in proportion to the diftance from the fea, and the trees increafe in bulk. A promontory, called Bald Heady bounds the northern entrance into this inlet. Farther to the weft Cape Darby ^ in lat. 64. 21, makes the northern horn of this great found. Numbers of people inhabit this coaft. The men were about five feet two inches high j and in form and features refembled all the natives feen by the navigators fince they left Nootka Sound. They had, in their under lip, two perforations. The color of their (kin was that bf copper t their hair fhort and black: the beard of the men fmall : their language a dialed of the EJkimaux. Their clothing is chiefly of Deer flcins, with large hoods, made in the form of loofe jackets, fcarcely reaching lower than half the thigh ; where it was almoft met by a great wide-topped boot. The EJki- maux occafionally ftick their children in the top : the women of this country place them more commodioufly within the upper part of the jacket, over one fhoulder*. In language there feems confiderable conformity. They had, like them, the woman's boat, and the Kaiack : the firft they fometimes made ufe of as .. protedlion from the weather, by turning it upfide down, and flieltering beneath. But their hovels were the moft wretched of any yet feen; confifting of only a floping roof (without any fide walls) compofed of logs; a floor of the fame; the entrance at, one end, and a hole to permit the efcape of the fmoke. Thefe poor people Their Sensih. feem very fufceptible of feelings for the misfortunes of each other, which would do honor to the moft poliftied ftate. A family appeared, one of which was a moft diftorted figure, with fcarcely the human form: another, feemingly the chief, almoft blind : the third, a girl : the laft, the wife. LITY. • See tab. 54. L 1 She CCLIV CAPE DARBY. SLEDGE ISLAND. She made iife of Captain Kjno to aft as a charm to reftore her blind huftand to his fight*. He was firft diredled to hold his breath , then to breathe on, and afterwards to fpit on his eyes. We are not without fimilar fupcrftitions. The Romans ^ applied the fame remedy to difcafes of the fame part : but I doubt whether they, or our polifhed nation, ever cxpreffed the fame feelings as this poor woman did. She related her ftory in the moft pathetic manner; (he prcfifed the hands of the Captain to the bread of hcrhufband, while (he was relating the calamitous hiftoryof her family;, pointed fometimesto.thehufl3and,fometimes to the cripple, and fometimes to the poor child. Unable to contain any longer, (he burft into tears and lamentation. She was followed by the reft of her kindred in unifon^ ivhich, I tnift, filled the eye& of the civilized beholders, as their relatioa has mine. From Cape Darfy the land trends to the weft, and ends in Point Rod- ney; lowland, with high land far beyond, taking a northerly direftion inland. Off this point, in lat. 64. 30, is SUdge IJland, fo called from a fledge being found on it, refembling thofe which the Ruffians ufe in Kamt^ Jcbatka to carry goods over the fnow. It was ten feet long, twenty inches fcroad, with a rail on each fide, and (hod with bonej all neatly put toge- ther, in ibme parts with wooc^en pins, but moftly with thongs of whale- bone : a proof of the ingenuity of the natives. Whether it was to be drawn with dogs or rein-deer, does not appearj for the iftand was deferted, and only the remains of a fey/ Jourts to be feen. In lat. 64, sSy long. 1 92,. h King's ifland, named in honor of the able and worthy continuator of the voyage. The continent oppofite to it bends towards the eaft, and forms a (hallow bay; then fuddenly runs far into the fea, and makes the inoft weftern extremity yet known, and probably the moft weftern of all. On it were feveral hutsj and ftages of bone, fuch as had been obferved ia the r/chutfchi country. This cape forms one fide of Behring's ftreights,, • See Voyage, ii. 481. t Mulieris falivam quoque jejunse potentem dijudicant oculis cruentatis.— /»///». Hlft, Hat. lib. xxviii. c. 7. and m ■ POINT MULGRAVE. ICY SEA. CCLV Point Mui, ORAVR. and lies nearly oppofitc to Eafi Cape, on the Afmtic fliorc, at the fmall diftance of only thirty-nine miles. This lies in lat. 65. 46 } is named Caips Prince of Wales I is low land, and the heights, as ufual, appeared beyond } among which is a remarkable peaked hill. It would be unjuft to the memory of paft navigators, not to fay, that there is the greatcft pro- bability that cither this cape, or part of the continent adjacent to ic, was difcovered, in 1730, by Michael Gwojdew, a land furveyor attendant on the Cojfack, Colonel Scbejiakow, in the unfortunate expedition undertaken by him to render the Tjchutjchi tributary*. Here begins the Icy Sea or Frozen Ocean. The country trends ftrongly to the eaft, and forms, in lat. 67. 45, long. 194. 51, Point Mulgrave-, the land low, backed inland with moderate hills, but all barren, and deftitutc of trees. From hence it makes a flight trend to the weft. Cape Lijiurn lies in lat. 69 ; and Icy Cape^ the moft extreme land fcen by any navigators on this fide, was obfervcd in lat. 70. 29, long. 198. ao, by our illuftrious feaman, on Jugujl i8ih 1778. The preceding day he had made an ad- vance as high as 70. 41 j but, baffled by impenetrable ice, upon the jufteft leafoning was obliged to give up all thoughts of the north-eaft paflage: which reafons were confirmed, in the following year, by his fucceflbr in command. Captain Clerke. All the trials made by that perfevering commander could not attain a higher latitude than 70. 11, long. 196. 15. He found himfelf laboring under a lingering difeafe, which he knew muft be fatal, unlefs he could gain a more favorable climate j but his high fenfe of honor, and of his duty to his orders, determined him to perfift, till the impoflibility of fuccefs was determined by every officer. He gave way to their opinion, failed towards the fouthward on July 21ft, and on Augujl aad honorably funk, at the age of thirty-eight; off the coaft of Kamt/chatka, under a diforder contrafted by a continued fcene of hardftiips, endured from his earlieft youth in the fervices of his country f . To fuch charafters as thefe we are indebted for the little we know, and <5f the Icy Sea. probably all that can be known, of the Icy Sea. The antients had fome • Decouvertei, Sec. i. 166. f See the particulars of his fervices, Fojage, iii. 280. L 1 2 obfcure CCLVI Depth. ICY SEA. obfcure notion of its coafts, and have given it the name ofStythiaim Marti a cape jutting into it was ftylcd Scythicum Prmonterium { and an ifland at the bottom of a deep bay to the weft of it, Scytbica In/ula, It is following the conjcftures of the ingenious to fay, that the firft may be the Cape Jalmal, and the laft, Nova ZmIJa, which fomc will make the In/uIa taxata o( Pliny ^ as it refembles in name the river tasy which flows almoft oppofite to it into the gulph of Ob *. The knowlegc which the ancients had of thcfc parts muft have been from traffic. The channels through which it was conveyed are pointed out in p. cliv. of this work. The Icy Sea extends from Nova Zemlja to the coaft of America. Wc have feen how unable even the Rtiffians have been to furvey its coafts, ex- cept by interrupted detail, notwithftanding it formed part of their own vaft empire. To our navigators was given the honor not only of fettling parts of its geography with prccifion, but of exploring the whole fpace between the moft northern promontory of ^a and the fartheft accefllble part of Jmerica. This was a traft of one hundred leagues f. The traverfing it was a work of infinite difficulty and d;;ngcr. The fea fliallow; and the change from the greatcft depth, which did not exceed thirty fathoms, to the left, which was only eight, was fudden: the bottom muddy, caufcd by the quantity of earth brought down from the vaft rivers which pour into it from the AJiatic fide. We fufpeft that it receives but few from the Ame^ rican, their general tendency being eaft and weft. The Icy Sea is fliallow, not only becaufe its tides and currents are very inconfiderablej but its out- let through the ft-eights of Behring very narrow, and even obftru<5bed in the middle by the iflands of St. Diomedes: both which circumftances impede the carrying away of the mud. The current, fmall as it is, comes chiefly from the fouth-weft, and is another impediment. The land of each continent is very low near the fliores, and high at a fmall diftance from them: the former is one inftance of a correfpondcnt fhallownefs of water. The foundings off each continent, at the fame diftances from the fliore, were exaftly the fame. • StrabUnitrg Hifi. RuJ/ta, 113. f Vajagt, ill. 277. The I C Y SEA. ccLvir The ice of this fea ' .-rs greatly from that o( SpitzhergtM. It probably j^,^ is entirely generated from the fea-water. The Icy S«a feems to be \n no part uounded by lofty land, in the valleys of which might have been form- ed the ftupendous icehrgSt which, tumbling down, form thofe lofty iflanda we had before occafion to mention. The ice here is moveable, except about the great headlands, which arc befet with a rugged mountanous ice. It is notorious, that a ftrong gale from the north in twenty-four hours covers the whole coaft, for numbers of miles in breadth j will fill the ftrcights of Bbhrino, and even the Kamt/cbatkan feasj and in fmallcr pieces extend to its iflands. In iht Icy Sea it confifts chiefly of field-ice. Some fields, very large, and furroundcd with lefler, from forty to fifty yards in extent, to four or fivej the thicknefs of the larger pieces was about thirty feet under water; and the grcatcft height of others above, about fixtecn or eighteen. ■ It was tranfparent, except on the furface, which was a little porous, and often very rugged : the reft compadl as a wall. At times it mull parkj for the mountanous ice which the Cojfack Morkoff afcended (fee p. clxix.) muft have been of that nature. The dcftrudion of the ice is not efFefted by the fun, in a climate where fog?» reign in far greater proportion than the folar beams j neither will the ftreights of Behring permit the efcape of quantity fufficient to clear the fca of its vaft load. It muft, in a little time, become wholly filled with it, was it not for the rage of the winds, which dafties the pieces together, breaks and grinds them into minute parts, which ibon melt, and refolve into their original element. The animals of this fca are very few, and may be reduced to the Polar Animals, Bear, the Walrus, and Seals. The firft does not differ from thofe of other ardic countries: it is beautifully engraven in tab. LXXIII. of the Voyage. Amidft the extraordinary fccnery in tab. LII. is given the only accurate figure of the Walrus I have ever fcen. I cannot but fufped it to be a variety of the fpecies found in the Spitzbergen feas. The tulka are more flcnder, and have a flight diftinguilhing flexure : the whole animal is alfo much lefs. The length of one (not indeed the largeft) was only nine feet four inches; its greateft circumference feven feet tenj weight,, ex- cluftve ccivni Fish, Birds, ICY SEA. clufive of the entrails, about eleven hundred pounds. They lay on the ice by thoufandsj And in the foggy weather cautioned our navigators, by their roaring, from running foul of it. They arc ufually feen Heeping, but never without fome centinels to give notice of approaching danger: thefe awaken the next to them, rhey their neighbors, till the whole herd is roufed. Thefe animals are the objcfts of chacc with the ofl^ St. Thaddeus Na/s, where there is a channel of great depth. From the vulcanic difpofition I am led to believe not only that there was a feparation of the continents at the ftreights of Behr'ng, but that the whole fpace, from the iftes to that fmall opening had once been occupied by land; and that the fury of the watervr element aduated by that of fire, had, in rnoft remote times, fubverted' and over-* whelmed the traft, and lefr the ifiands monumental fragments. Whether that gr-at event took place before or after the population of •^menc^i, is as impoffible, as it is of little moment, for us to know. We are POPULATION OF AMERICA. «re indebted to our navigators for fettling the long difpute about the point from which it was effeaed. They, by their difcoverics, prove, that in one place the diftancc between continent and continent is only thirty-nine miles, not (as a celebrated cavliifV* would have it) eight hundred leagues. This nairow ftreight has alfo in the nniddle two illands, which would greatly facilitate the migration of the 4fiatics into the New World, fup- pofing that it took place in car.ocs, after the convulfion which rent the two continents afunder. Befides, it may be added, that thefc ftreights are, even m rhe fummer, often filled with ice $ in winter, often frozen : in either cafe mankind might find an cafy paflage j in the laft, the way was extremely ready for quadrupeds to crofs, and flock the continent of America. I may fairly call in the machinery of vulcanoes to tear away the other means of tranfit farther to the fouth, and bring in to my afTiftancc the former fuppoHtion of folid land between Kamtfchatka and Oona- lafeha, inflead of the crefcent of iflands, and which, prior to the great cataflrophe, would have greatly enlarged the means of migration i but the cafe is not of that difficulty to require die foluiion. One means of paflage is indifputably eflablifhed. But from which part of the vafl expanfe of the north-eaflern world, to fix on the firft tribes who contributed to people the new continent, now in- habited almofl from end to end, is a matter that baffles human rcafon, Tiie learned may make bold and ingenious conjedurcs, but plain good fenfc cannot always accede to them. As mankind encreafcd in numbers, they naturally protruded one another forward. Wars might be another caule of migrations. I know no reafon why the Afiatic north might not be an tfficina virorum, as well as the European. The ovcrteeming country, to the eafl of the Riphaan mountains, mult find it neceiTary to difchargc its inhabitants : the firfl great wave of people was forced forward by the next to it, more tumitl and more powerful than itfclf : fucccffive and new im- pulfes continually arriving, fliort refl was given to that which fpread over a more eaflern tradt j diflurbcd again and again, it covered frcfh regions y CCLIX • The «uthor of Ricbirchts Pbilt/opblquts fur lei Jmerhaini, i. 136. nt CCLX CUSTOMS. CUSTOUS COM- N A OF Asia. m ■i at length, reaching the fartheft limits of the Old World, found a new one, with ample fpace to occupy unmoleftcd for ages i till Columbus curfed them by a difcovery, which brought again new fins and new df aths to both worlds. The inhabitants of the New do not confift of the offspring of a fingle nation : different people, at feveral periods, arrived there : and it is impoffi- ble to fay, that any one is now to be found on the original fpot of its colo- nization. It is impolRble, with the lights which we have fo recently re- ceived, to admit that America could receive its inhabitants (at left the bulk of them) from any other place than eaftern Jfta. A few proofs may be added, taken from cufloms or drefTes common to the inhabitants of both worlds : fome have been long extinft in die old, others remain in both in full force. The cuflom of fcalping was a barbarifm in ufe with the Scythians, who AND TH^ nort'^h'^ 'Cm\td about them at all times this favage mark of triumph : they cut a " * circle round the neck, and ftripped off the fkin, as they would that of an ox *. A little image, found among the Kalmues, of a Tartarian deity, mounted on a horfe, and fitting on a human (kin, with fcalps pendent from the breaft, fully illuftrates the cuftom of the Scythian progenitors, as defcribed by the Greek hiftorian. This ufage, as the Europeans know by horrid experience, is continued to this day in America. The ferocity of the Scythians to their prifoners extended to the remoteft part of Afta. The Kamtjchadalesy even at the time of their difcovery by the Ruffians f, put their prifoners to death by the moft lingering and excruciating inven- tions i a praftice in full force to this very day among the aboriginal Ame- ricans. A race of the Scythians were ftyled Anthropophagi %, from their feeding on human flefh. The people of Nootka Sound ftill make a repaft on dieir fellow-creatures § : but what is more wonderful, the favage allies of the Britijh army have been known to throw the mangled limbs of the * Herodotus, lib. iv.— Compare the account given by the hiftorian with the Tartarian icunculus, in Dr. Pallas'^ Travels, i. tab. x. a. t Hift. Kimt/cbatka, 57. X Mela, lib. ii. c, i. § f'ojage, ii. French c u s O M S. CCLXI French prifoners into the horrible Iron, and devour them with the famw,aslow aslat. 53* As far eaft as Lake Baikal; and in the north of Chi»a to the north of Corea. lat. 45 *. Lapland. Norway. Samoi- edea. Along the yirific coafts, to Kamtjcbatka. In the Urallian moun- tains to Kungur, in lat. 57. 10. About Lake Baikal. Spitzbergen. Greenland. Norway, and moft part oflFrom Europe to the fouth. In the north oi Afia. China. Bdrbary, E. Norway. Sweden. Moft part of Europe, except RuJ/ia. Scotland. NEW WORLD. va Scotia. New England i and near the northern part of the river Ohio. Hud/on's Bay. Northern parts of Canada. La- trader . Ifland oi New- foundland. Canada, over all parts oi North America. Mexico. From the provinces fouth of Canada to Florida. Perhaps in Guiana. Interior north-weftern parts oi America? Mexico. According to Charlevoix, in Canada ? Wolf, N''i37. DIGITATED. D I V. I. From the Ar£lic circle to the moft fouthern part of Europe. \nAfia,ivom the From Hudjon's Bay to the moft fouthern parts of North America. * Or lat. 42, aci { rdix^ to. Mr. Zimmtrmein'a new Map. 1 I ■A' TABLE OF (QUADRUPEDS. ccLxxr ^3 B N U S. I HIST. OyADK, V. Cat. ^r^/VFox,K'i4o. Common Fox, i N' 139. j Grey, N* 142. OLD WORLB. the circle to Perfia. Kamtfcbatkfl. All parts of Africa. Within the whole ArSik circle. Iceland. Spitz- bergen. Greenland, Fin- mark. North of Sibiria. Kamt/cbatka,and itsifles. In all parts of Europe, and the cold and temperate parts of J/ia. Kamtf- chatka, and its furthcft ifles. Iceland. E. / Silvery, N* 143. Puma, N» i6o.| Lynx, N" 170. Bay Lynx, N° 171. 1 Europe^ and many of the fouth. Spain. North of Afia, and the mountains in the north of India** NKW WORLD. Hud/on's Hay. The iilcs in the high latitudes on the wcftcrn fide of Ame- rica. Fiom Hud/on's Bay, crofs the continent to the Fox IJles. Labrador. New- foundland. Canada. Not further fouth : a variety only, the Brandt Fox, in Penfylvania. From New England to the fouthern end of North America. In Louijiana. From Canada to Florida j thence through Mexico, quite to ^ito in Peru, Forefts of the north of From Canada, over moft parts of North America, In the province of New Tork. Mountain, • As I have been affured by Doftor Pallas, fincc the publication of my Hipry ef ^adrupeds. N n a CCLXXIC TABLE OF QJJADRUPEDS. O E N U 5. VI. Bear. HIST. QiJADR. I Mountain, N° 16 8. 1 Polar, N°i75, OLD WORLD. Black, Brown, N" 174. ibid. Wolverene, "> NM76. 5 Within the whole polar circle of Europe and Afia. Jejo Mafma, north of Ja pan]; perhaps in Japan. In moil parts of Europe, north and fouth. The fame in Afta^ even as far as Arabia. Barbary *. Ceylon. Kamtfchatka. North of iVorwiTy. Lapland. North o(Sibiria. KamtJ. (hatha. Raccoon, N" 178. VII. Badger. VIII. Opossum. N" 179, Virginian^ N" 1 8 1 . In the fouth of Norway, and all the more fouth- ern parts of £artf;p^. ]n the temperate parts of Afta, as far as China eaftward. E. NEW WORLD. Carolina, and perhaps other parts of North America. The fame in America j alfo as low as Hudjon's Bay and Labrador. In all parts of North Ante- rica. To the north - weft of Hud/on's Bay, and on the weftern fide of America. AhomNootka Sound. On the Andes of Peru f. As far north as the Copper River, and foutli as tlie country between lake Huron and Superior. On the weftern fide of North America. From New England to Flo- rida, Mexico. Ifles of Maria, near Cape Cori- entes, in the South Sea. In the neighborhood of Uudjon's Bay. Terra de Labrador, and as low as Penjylvania. As far north as Canada, and from thence to the Braftls and Peru. IX. Weesel. • Shaw'tTravth. 24$«. f CMdamint' s Travtlj , iz,~^Ulha', Fc^gt, i. 461. TABLE OF CLUADRUPEDS. CCLXXIII O E N U S„ IX. W£SS£L. X. Otter. HIST. QUADR. Common, N" 192. Stoat, N* 193. Pine Martin, irtm, 7 N» 200. } Pekan, N''204. Vifon, N" 205. Sable, N-aoi. Fiiher, N" 202. Striated, N'217. Skunk, N''2i8. Common, N" 226. Lefler, N»228. fSea, N" 230. OLD WORLD. Moft parts of Europe. Si biria. Kamtfcbatka. Bar- bary. E. All the northern parts of Europe and Jfta ; and as far as Kamtfthatka and the Kuril ifles. E. North of Europe. Rare in France. Only in the wtft of Sibiria. In China, E. Sibiria. Kamtfcbatka, Kuril ifles. Northern Europe and ylfta. Kamtfcbatka. E. About the banks of the 2'aik. Poland. Lithuania. Finland. Kamtfcbatka. Kuril ifles. NEW WORLD. I/udfoft's Bay, Newfound- land. As far fbuth as Carolina. lludfon's Bay, and as low as Newfoundland and Canada. Northern parts of North America, quite to the South Sea. Hudfon's Bay. Canada, Canada, Canada. Iludfon's Bay. New Eng- land. Pcifylvania. Penfylvania to Louifiana. From Hudfon's Bay 10 Peru. Froin Hud/an' s Bay to Loui- ftana. From New Jerfey to Ca- rolina. Weflern coafts o( America. XI. Hare. Varying, N° 24a. American i N° 243. D I V. II. Scandinavia. Ruffta. Sibi- ria. Kamtfcbatka. Green- land. E. Hudfon's Bay. About Cook's river. From Hudfon's Bay to the extremity of North Ame- vica. Alp me 1 "A .Jjjjia ,iii |t|''i HI -i CCLXXIV G £ N U S. TABLE OF QJJADRUPEDS. OLD WORLD. XII. Beavir. XIII. Porcu- pine. XIV.Marmot. i HIST. QITADR. Caftor, N''25i. MulTc, N''252. Canada J N° 257. ^ue^ec, N»259. Maryland^ N" 260. From the Jlfaic chain to inke Baikal i thence to Kamtfchatka. Scandinavia. About the Jenejei and Kondu. In Cafan^ and about the Taik, NEW WORLD. Aleutian ifles. Poflibly the weft of North America, From Hudjon's Bay to Lou- ijiana. Hoary, N''26i. Tail-lcfs, N''265. JEarlefs, N" 263. XV. Squirrel. XVI.DoRMOUSl Hudfony N" 274. Grey, N°272. Black, NV.73. Flying, N° 283. Hooded, N''284. Severn River, 1 N''282.} Striped, N° 286, Englijh? N''289. Bohemia. Auftria. Hunga- ry. From the Occa over the temperate parts of Sibiria. About Jakutz. Kamtfchatka, From Hud/on' s Bay to Lou- ijiana. From Hud/on' s Bay to Vir- ginia. Canada. From Pen/ylvania to the Bahama ifles. North of North America. Hud/on's Bay. Weftern fide of North America. Sibiria, as high as lat. 65. Sweden, and all Europe fouth. E. Carolina? HudJon*s Bay. Labrador. New England to Peru and Chili. New England to Mexico. From the fouthern part of Hud/on's Bay to Mexico, Virginia. Hudfon's Bay, Hudjotis Bay to Louifiana. XVII. Rat, TABLE OF (QUADRUPEDS. CCLXXV O E N U S. XVII. Rat. XVIII. Shrew. XIX, Mole. HIST. CiyADR. Black, N" 297. American i N" 299. Water, N" joo. Moufc, N'joi. Field, N" 302. Virginiany N" 307. Labrador y N" 295. Hiidfon'sy N' 3 1 9. Meadow, N° 322. iled ? \ N°320.i Hare-tailed ? 3 Foerid, N''34i. OLD WORLD. All Europe. Many of the South Sea iflands. E. Mongolia. From Lapland to the fouth of Europe. From Peter/- burgh to Kamt/chatka, and as low as the Caf- pian fca, and Perfia. E. UnivcrfiU. E, All Europe. Not beyond the UralUan chain. E. Sweden. AW temperate /i///"- /ta. In Sibiria only to the Irtijch, E. Sibiria. Europe. Sibiria, Kamt/chat- ka. E, NEW WORLD. The rocks among the Blue Mountains. North America. From Canada to Carolina, XX. Walrus. Long-tailed, ) N''352.J Radiated, N" 351. Brown, N" 353. D I V. III. ArSiic, N" 37 3 .[ Spitzbergen. Greenland. No va Zemlja. The coail of the Frozen Sea. And on the A/tatic fide, to th^ fouth of Among thr rocks, with the Black Rat. Uud/on's Bay. New Tork. yirginia. Hud/on's Bay. Labrador. Same places. Hud/on' s Bay. New/ound- land. Hud/on*s Bay. Hud/on' s Bay, Carolina, New Tork, Interior parts of Hud/on' s Bay. New Tork. New Tork, Hud/on's Bay. Gulph of St. Laurence. On the weftern fide of America^ as low as lat. 58. 42* It t If 'i I hill I CCLXXVI GENUS. TABLE OF QJLJADRUFEDS. HIST. QUADR. XXI. Seal. ICommonjN''372. Rubbon, N»38o. Great, N'jSi. Leporine, N^jSi. Hooded, N" 285. Harp, N" 385. XXII.Manati. Rough, N° 283. Urfme, N" 387. Leonine, N''389. Whale-tailed, i N° 390. i Sea Ape, p. 392. OLD wo R L D. of Behrifig's ftreights, as low as lat. 62. 50. All th e European and north- ern Afiatic feas, even to the fartheft north. Kami/- chatka. E. The Kuril ides. Greenland und Kamtfchatka. E. White Sea. Iceland. Spitz- bergen. Kamtfchatka. Spitzbergen. Greenland. Ice- land. White Sea. Kamtf- chatka. NIW WORLD. Northern feas o^ America, Weft of North America. There can be no doubt that every fpecies of Seal is found on the American coaft. Kamtfchatka. New Zealand. Kamtfchatka, Behring's ifle, and near the ifle of St. Mauritius. Weft of America^ and from the ifle of Gallipagos to New Georgia. Weft o{ America. Streights of Magellan. Statenland* Falkland ifles. Weft ofAnerica, Weft of America, XXin. Bat. Ne'Of Torky'S' J^02. Long haired, N°83 Noftule, N»407. D I V. IV. New Zealand. .1 Framt. E. New Tork. Carolina. Hudfon's Bay, Some terica. 'tea. doubt ies of )n the I from \os to lights ome JOURNEY TO THE ICY SEA. ccLxxvr. Some years ago a vefy important dlfcovery was made, not very remote Jour.ev to the •trom the place where Captain Cook was obliged to defift from his ^^'^ ^ea. noithern voyage. Mr. Samuel Hearne, in the fcrvice of the Hud/on' s Bay Company, by direftion of the governors, began a journey, on December 7th 1770, towards the northern limits of America. He went attended only by Indians, with whom he had been long acquainted. He fet out from Prince of IVales fort, 58. SS- 30, north iat. weft long, from Londoj^ 9S' 15- He for a long fpace took a north-weftern courfe, croffed Me^ mjchtic lake, in Iat. 61, a water thirty-five miles in breadth, full of fine iflands, and joining with die river Namaffy. He paffed over methen and Cajjed lakes, and from the Jait kept due weft. In ^prtl he reached thUweyaza Teth, a fmall lake in long. 19, weft from Churcbil fovt, Iat. 61. 30, near which he made fome ftay to build canoes, now requifite againft the breaking up of the froft. From that lake he began a courfe due north, and crofted a chain of lakes, of which Titumeg is one. In Iat. 64. he went over Pejhew Uke-, after that, the great lake Cogeed, out of which iffues a river pointing north-caft, which is fuppofed to fall into Baffin's Bay, About the middle of June he crofted the great river Conge-cathawha-chaga, in Iat. 68. 46 ; and from Churcbil river weft long. 24. 2. About thofe parts are the Stoney Mountains, extending in longitude from 116 to 122 from London: craggy, and of a tremendous afpeft. On July 7th he arrived at Buffalo lake, in Iat. 69. 30 : here he firft faw the Musk Buffalo. Near the north end is Grizzle Bear-hill, in about Iat. 70, fo called from its being the haunt of numbers of thofc animals. On July 13th he reached the banks o( Copper River, which runs due north into the Icy Sea. About the fouth end is much wood, and very high hills. Its current is very rapid, and its channel choaked with ftioals, and crofted with ftoney r»dges, which form three great catarafts. Its banks are high, the breadth about a hundred and eighty yards i but in fome places it expands into the form of a lake. In an ifland of the river unfortunately happened to be a fummer encampment of five tents of EJkimaux. The Indians attendant on Mr. Hearne grew furious at the It is their firm opinion, that thefe favages are magicians. Copper Rivir. fi^t of them. ESKIMAUX. ^nd W ccLxxvni JOURNEY TO THE ICY SEA. dog-ribbbd Indians. and that all the evils they experience refult from their incantations. Mr. Hearne in vain folicited his Indians to forbear injuring thefe poor people. They, with their ufual cowardice, deferred the attack till night, when they furprifed and murdered every one, to the number of between twenty and thirty. A young woman made her efcapc and embraced Mr. Hearne's feet j but Ihe was purfued by a barbarian, and transfixed to the ground. He ob- ferved in their tents (which were made of deer-fkins with the hair on) copper veffels, and whale-bone, and the Ikins of Seals, wooden troughs, and kettles made of a foft ftone (by his defcription a lapis ollaris), and difhes and fpoons formed from the thick horns of the Buffalo. Their arms are fpears, darts, and bows and arrows ; the laft pointed with ftone or copper, but moft rudely made, for want of proper tools. In their drefs they much refemble the EJkimaux oiHudfoh's jB^j', but the tails of their jackets are fliorter j neither do the women, like them, ftiffen out the tops of their boots. Their canoes differ in not having long projefting prows, but in other refpefts are of the fame conftrudion. In moft circumftances thefe people refemble thofe of the Bay, and differ materially only in one, for the men in thefe pull out by the roots all the hair of their heads. — Mr. Hearne iirft faw the fea on July i6, at the diftance of eight miles. He went to the mouth of the river (in lat. 72; weft long, from London 121) which he found full of fhoals and falls, and inacceffible to the tide, which feemed to flow twelve or fourteen feet. The fea was at this time full of ice, and on many pieces he faw Seals. The land trended both to the eaft and to the weft, and the fea was full of iflands. The land about Copper river, for the fpace of nine or ten miles to the fea, confifted of fine marlhes, filled in many places with tall Willow, but no fort of berry-bear- ing fhrubs. There are no woods within thirty miles of the mouth of Copper river i and thofe which then appear, confift of ill-fhaped and ftunted Pines. The people who live neareft to this river, are the Copper-mine Indians, and the Plat- cotes de Chiens, or Dog-ribhed Indians i thefe have no direfb commerce with Hudfon's Bay, but fell their furs to the more fouthern Indians, who come for them, and bring them down to the fettlements. The Bog-ribkd Indians ftill make their knives of ftones and bones, and head GREENLAND. head their arrows with flate. The Copper Indians have abundance of na- tive copper in their country; they make with it ice-chiflels and arrow- heads. The n^ine is not known j but I find that an Indian chief, who had many years ago comnaunication with a Mr. Froji, one of the Company's fervants, fays, that the copper was ftruck off a rock with fliarp ftoncs ; and that it lay in certain iflands far to the northward, where was no night during fummer *. . . ■ Mr. Hearne fet out on his return the 2 2d of July. He took, in fome places, a route different from what he did in going, and got to the fettlements in June 1772. I have perufed the journal, and had fre- quent converfation with Mr. Hearne. I took the liberty to queftion him about the waters he had croffed during winter upon the ice ; and whether they might not have been at that time obltrufted ftreights, a paflage to the Pacific Ocean ? He affured me, that he could make no miftake : that he paffed over many of them in canoes during the fummer, and that the others had large rivers running out of them, almoft every one to the weft: that the Indians y who croffed them annually, in their way to the north to trade for furs, were exceedingly well acquainted with them, and knew them to be frelh-water lakes j and in particular ufed to fifh in them for Pikes, filh notorioufly known never to frequent falt-water. The Quadrupeds obferved by Mr. Hearne in this high latitude were the Musk Ox, Rein Deer, Grizzle Bears, Polar Bears, White Wolves, Arctic Foxes, Woolverines, Ermines, Common Squirrels, Striped Squirrels, Mice of different kinds; and on the ice in the mouth of Copper River, Seals. The EJkimaux had with them. Dogs. I muft now take a blind unguided courfe along the Icy Sea. The charts give the land a turn to the fouth, in lat. 81. long. 22 from London. This is the moft northern extremity of the country called Greenland, if it reaches fo far; but, beyond the difcovery by Mr. Hearne, in lat. 72, the northern limits given in our charts appear to be merely conjedu- ral. To the fouth, on the eaftern coaft, in 1670, was feen land in lat. 79. cclxxix i i\ GREENLAftD. * Dobbt^s Account of Hud/on* s Bay, Sec. 47. Gq 2 ' Another \ , CCLXXX GREENLAND. John Mayen's Isle. Another part, in lat. 77. 30, called in the maps tbt land of Edam, was fccn in 1655. The inlet named Gael-hamkesy in lat. 75, was difcovered in 1664. A headland was obferved, in 1665, a degree further fouth. In a map of North and Seufh Jmtriea, publifhcd by Mr. Sayer in 1775, is a fmall ifle called Bontekoh feaied off the coaft in lat. 73. 30, the date of the difcovery is 1665: and in 1607 o""" celebrated Hudfon difcovered what he named Hold -with Hopey in lat. 73 *. Ex- cepting the laft, the reft of the attempts were made by the Banes, for the recovery of Old Greenland. Gael-bamkes alone continues known to navi- gators, and is annually frequented by European Whale-fiftjers, who extend their bufinefs even to this coaft. It is reprefented as a great ftreight, twenty.five leagues wide, communicating with Sarin's Bay. A fpecies of Whale, frequent in Davis's S freights, and not found on this fide of the coafts, is often feen here harpooned with the ftone weapons of the inhabitants of the oppofite country ; which fifli muft have efcaped through this paflage f . The land to the north of Gael-hamkes is level, and not very high j and within five or fix leagues from it are foundings. That to the fouth is very lofty, and rifes into peaks like that o( Spitzbergen -, and the fea oppofite to it isfathomlefsj. In lat. 71. long. 8. weft from London, is John Mayen's ifland, formerly much frequented by Whale-fifhers ; but thofe animals have now left the neighboring fea. The north end rifes into a prodigious mountain called Beerenbergy or the Bears y from its being the haunt of numbers; but it is fo fteep as to be inacceffible to all human creatures. The height of the mountain on Mayen's ifle is fo great, that it may be feen at the diftance of thirty leagues. Many parts of the coaft are from twenty to thirty fathoms high. The fea at the north end is often frozen ten miles from the (hore j and on one part of the ifle are three ftupendous icebergs, or mountains of ice. Off the north-eaft end are alternate calms, and fudden gufts of wind like whirlwinds, which make aavigators Ihun the approaching it from that quarter. The bottom of the fea round the ifle is rocky and uneven, and of very • furtbasyvi,^. f V^ljugts far dt Path, ii. »i9. j Same. varimi* very OLD GREENLAND. various depths. There are places where there is only fix or feven fathom water, with a black fand, poflibly vulcanic } and at a fmall diftance is water of three hundred fathoms. In othei- parts the bottom is rocky, and moft unBt for anchorage*: a few creeks, pervious by difficult and narrow inlets, are capable of affording fhelter, in this horrible fpot, to a few Ihallops i but Ihips muft anchor without, and then with the moft feduloi?| circumfpeftion. The Ihips deftined for the Greenland whale-fi(hery often vifit this iOand firft, for the fake of the feals, which are here in great numbers upon th(f ice. They are killed for the fake of the oil, which is extradcd from their blubber; and for their ikins, which, after being falted, are kept in calks, and ufed in England for making of boots and fhoes. Our ihips leave their ports in February or Marcby and arrive oflf the iQand in March or /ipril, according to the time of their departure j and if they arrive in the firft month, they generally find the fea full of ice j but that depends on the winds, for when they blow from certain points the ice difappears and leaves the water open. The fliips ufually continue in this fea till the beginning of May, at which time they ftretch away to the eaft, and apply themfelves to the whale-fifhery in about latitude 79, and evgi^ to that of 81. Oppofite to Mand begins the once-inhabited part of Old Greenland. A very deep ftreight opens a little oppofite to Sn^felnaSy and runs acrofs Greenland, near Jcicob's Haven, into Daw's Streights, fo as quite to infiw Jate the country: it is now almqft entirely clofed with ice, and annually fills the fea with the greaceft icebergs, which are forced out of it. A little to the nor<-h of the eaftern entrance are two mountains of a ftupendou* height, called Blaaferk and Huitjerk, cafed in perpetual ice. The whole country, to the fouthern end, confifts of fimjiar mountains : a few exhibit a ftoncy furface j but the greater part are genuine glacieres, (hooting into lofty peaks, or rugged fummits : yet fuch a country as this became the fettlement of numbers of Norwegians during feveral centuries. The valiant Eri( Raude, or the Redj having committed a murder in hk own • Northern Pilot, 61,62. Marten's Sfifxbergen, 186. CCLXXXI Old GrbeM' LANJ>. Peopled by Norwegians. Gountrv I CCLXXXIt voyaob of tub Zem. OLD GREENLAND. country (a common caufe for feeking adventures, with the heroes of Greece as well as Scandinavia) fled here in the tenth century. Numbers of his countrymen followed him. L«/, his fon, became a convert to Chriftianity. Religion flouriflied here: a biflioprick was eftabliflied, and monafteries founded. The cathedral was at Gardar, a little to the fouth of the polar circle. In Hackluyi* is a relation of the voyage of the two Zeni (noble Venetians) who in ijSovifited this country, and (rive r^-idcnce to the ex- iftence of the convent, and a church dedicated to St. Tboma: pofl'efled by friers preachers. It appears to have been built near a vulcano, and the materials were lava, cemented with a fort of pulvis puieolanus, which is known to be a vulcanic attendant. A fpring of boiling water was near the houfe, and was conveyed into it for all their culinary ufes. I am not averle to giving credit to this account; there being no reafon to deny tiie former exiftence of burning mountains, when liich numbers are to be found in the neighboring Iceland; and at this very time there is a fountain of hot water in the ifle of Onortok, not remote from Cape Farewell f. A ftrange phrafeology runs through the voyage of thefe two brethren, and perhaps fome romance; but fo much truth is every where evident, that I hefitate not to credit the authenticity. ^orfaus enumerates feventeen bifhops who prefided over the diocefe. The laft prelate was appointed in 1408. The black death had almoft de- populated the country not long before that period. Probably the fur- viving inhabitants fell vidlims to want, or were extirpated by the natives : for, after that year, we hear no more of them. It certainly had been well inhabited: the ruins of houfes and churches evince its former ftate. In the fifteenth century the kings of Denmark attempted to difcover whether any of the antient race remained j but all in vain : the adventurers were driven off the coaft by the ice with which it was blocked up, which remains an invincible obftacle to re-fettle the eaftern coaft, even were there the left temptation. All is a dreadful trad from lat. 8 1 to Staten Hook or Cape Farewelh its fouthern extremity, on an ifle ofi^ that point, in lat. 59; Vol. iu, IZ3 ; and Purchas, iii. 6:0; f Crantz, i. i8. on OLD GREENLAND. CCLXXXIII on both fides deeply indented with bays, bounded by icy pronnontories. Many of thefe bays had been parts of pervious ftrcights, which had divid- ed the country into feveral idands j but are now totally obftrudted with ice. Befides that I before mentioned, was one in lat. 6^, called Bdr-Jundi and that in 62. 50, immortalized by the name of our celebrated failor Frobijher^ who penetrated into it fixty leagues, in his firft voyage in 1576, in his fearch for a paflage to Cathaya -, but imagined that Afia bounded the right fide, znA America the left*. He met with inhabitants, de- fcribes them and their oeconomy, and is particular about their great dogs, and their ufe of them in drawing their fledges. In his fecond voyage he found a Narwhal dead on the Ihore, and has given a figure of it. « This horn,' fays he, • is to be feene and refcrved as a jewel by the Queens Majefties commandemct, in her wardrop of robes f.' — The original map of his voyages is a Angular flcetch of erroneous fuppofition. He makes his ftreights reach to the Icy Sea^ oppofite to what he calls Cathaya^ juft to the north of what is made to refemble the new-difcovered ftreights of Behring ; which, in the map, are called thofe of Aniam and accidentally gives them a tolerably juft form|. Thofe of Anian are equally fabulous with thofe of de Fuca, but of prior invention ; and, like them, were fayed to have been a paflage from the South to the North fea||. Q^ttn Elizabeth beftowcd on his difcoveries the name oi Meta Incognita. Greenland was refettled with Norwegians in 1721, by the zeal of the Reverend Mr. Hans Egede, the Jr^ic apoftle§. He continued, till 1735, preaching the Gofpel to the poor natives j and had not only the happinefs FROBISHRH't Strbiohii. I New Grein' LAND. • ' A true Difcouife of the late Voyages of Difcoverie for finding a Paffage to Cathaya » by the north-weft, under the Conduft of Martin Frobijher, General. Printed by Henry • Bynnyman, 1578.' Firft Voyage, p. 48. t The Same, Second Voyage, p. 19. J In the fame book. tl See an account of thefe imaginary ftreights in Drag$'s Vey. to Hud/on*s Streigttt, vol. ii. 68. $ CrantK, i, 279. 285. of CCLXXXIV OLD GREENLAND. Trees. Ice-Blinck. of feeing his labors blcfled with efFeft, but his example tbllowed by a numerous fct of mifTionaries, who have formed (on the weftem fide only) many fettlcmcnts, which flouriih even to this day. Mr. Egede re- turned to Denmark, founded a feminary for ftudents in the Greenland language, from which milTionarics were to be drawn j and tiniflied his pious life in 1754. At Cape Farewell begins the vaft opening between Greenland and Terra de Labrador t which leads to Hud/on' s Bay. Between tlie we'll fide of Green- land and certain vaft iflands, are Davis's Sti eights, which lead to Baffin's Btry. Thelc iflands in different maps bear different names, and in one arc even confolidated J fo little are thefe parts known*. To defcribe Greenland, would be to ring changes on ice, and fnow, and lofty mountains (fome, according to Mr. Crantz, a thoufand fathom* high) rifmg into broken crags or fharp (pires, or vallies with no other gar- niture than mofs and Ibme moor-grafs -, and in fome parts are long flat mount Jns, clad with perpetual ice and fnow. Where the birds, by their dung, have formed a littk foil, fome plants are found. Mr. CrantK\ enu- merates about twenty-four fpecies^ bcfides the cryptogamious kinds. Egede obfcrved, in lat. 60 or 61, fmall Junipers, Willows, and Birch j die laft two or thfee yards high, and as thick as a man's leg:^^ ^" amazing tree for this country. Davis alfo faw fome low B-rch and Willows ai high as about lat. 65 §. Nature here fuffers the reverfe of melioration} xhtglacieres conftantly gain on the vallies, and deftroy all hopes of im- provement. That amazing gladere, the Jce BUnck or /« Glancey ort the weftem coaft, is admirably dcfcribcd by Mr. Crantz. I mufc refer to him for the account, after faying, that it is a ftupendous aggregate at the mouth of an inlet, and of an amazing hei^tj the brilliancy of which appears like a glory to the navigators at many leagues diftance. It forms, beneath, a feries of moft magnificent arches, extending eight leagues in length, and two in breadth J through thefe are carried, at the ebb of tide, great frag* • Collate Mr. Middlttm\ map, and others. f Vol. i. 60. X Hifi. Grttnl. ^ Hackluyt. iii. 101. ments OLD GREENLAND. ments of ice, which have fallen from various icebergs, and prove one fupply to the ocean of its floating icr*. The ftrcights, now obftrudled to navigation, are fuppofed to be open at bottom, by arches fimilar to thole fpokenofi for an imnicnfc quantity of ice is annually difchargcd from their mouths f . I have mentioned the iflands of ice at p. cxxxivj for thofe of Spitz- bergen have every thing in common with thofe of Greenland. Perhaps the colors in the lall may be more brilliant ; the green being as high as that of the emerald, the blue equal to that of the fapphir ; the firft, Mr. Egede attributes to the congelation of frefli, the latter to that of falt- water:j:. Here are frequent inftances of the freezing of the fea- water. The froft often forms a pavement of ice from iHand to ifland, and in the confined inlets §. The tides rife at the fouth of this country three fathoms, in lat. 65 j on the weft fide two, or in fpring-tides three 1 at Dijco, about lat. 69, only one; further north it finks even to one foot. In great fpring- tides, efpecially in winter, is this ftrange phaenomenon: fprings o* frefh- water are forced up on the fhores in places where they were before unknown ||. During the long day of the fliort fummer is confiderable heat. The long winter is a little cheared by the Aurora Borealis, which appears and radiates with unufual brilliancy and velocity in the fpring, about the time of the new moon. Fogs give a gloom to the fummer, and froft- fmoke often adds horror to the winter. It rifes out of the opening of the ice in the fea, and peels ofF the very fkin from thofe who venture to approach it. The efFed: of the froft is very violent on the human body; but lefs fo than in the north-eaft of Sibiria, where at times it is fatal to ftir abroad, even when proteded with every guard of cloathing f . The Greenlanders faftidioufly ftyle themfelves /»»«//, i. e. men, as if they CCLKXXV • Crantz,\. 21 to 94. § Crantz, i. 43 . t Same, 15. t EgeJt, 55. Same, 41. ^ Forage en Siberie, i. 381, PP Tides. \H\ Aurora Borba* Lia. were "txxxvi OLD GREENLAND. were the ftandard of the human race; yet few of them attain the height of five feeti but are well made. Their hair is long and black; their faces flat i their eyes fmall. They are a branch of the EJkimaux, the fmall race which borders all the ArSfic coafts. They originated from the Samoied Jfiaticsy who, paffing over into the New World, have lined the coaft from Prince William's Sound on the weftern fide, in lat. 6i, quite to the fouthern l>&n o( Labrador on the eaftern. They crept gradually in their little canoes northward, and diminifhed in fize in their progrefs, till they attain- ed their full degeneracy in the EJkimaux and Greenlanders. Similar peo- ple, or veftiges of them, have been feen in different places, from Prince William's Sound to the north of Behring's ftreights. They were again kta by Mr. Hearne in lat. 7 2. By report of the Greenlanders of Di/co bay, there are a few inhabitants in Baffin's bay, in lat. 78. Egede fays, that the country is peopled to lat. 76 * j but the higheft colonized fpot is at Noog- foak, in lat. 71. They are a race made for the climate, and could no more bear removal to a temperate clime, than an animal of the torrid zone could into our unequal fky : feafons, and defeft of habitual food, would foon bring on their deftruftion. This race has been found to a^ree in manners, habits, and weapons, and in many inftances in language, from Prince William's Sound to the end of Labrador^ a trad extending near fifteen hundred leagues f. They only line the coafts ; for the Indians perfecute them with mercilefs hatred, and almoft pufh them into the fea. They imagine thefe poor creatures to be magicians, and that to them they owe every ill fuccefs in life J. The numbers of the Greenlanders are now amazingly diminiihed. In 1730 there were thirty thoufand fouls, at prefent only ten thoufand ; a decreafe chiefly owing to the ravage of the fmall pox. Greenland has been moft happy in its Zoologift. The Reverend Mr. Otto Fabricius, whom a laudable zeal for enlightening the minds of the grofs inhabitants, led to thefe parts, hath given a moft ample and claflical * As quoted in Green's map of America, I Samcj ii. 43. - t Cook's Fbj, i. Pref. i.xxiv. account OLD GREENLAND. CCLXXXVII account of the animals. His Fauna Groenlandica is among the firft works of the kind. I eagerly expeft the performance of the promifed remainder of the work. The Quadrupeds of this country are, the Rein-deer, which are here merely confidered as objefts of the chace. Their number is leflened greatly, and they are now only found in the moft remote parts. The Ukalcrajek* is, I fufpeft, an animal of imagination. It is faid, by the Greenlanders, to be long-eared, hare-lipped, and to refemble that animal j to have a fliort tail; to be of a white color, with a dark lift down the back, and of the fize of a Rein-deer. The Docs refemble Wolves in figure, fize, and nature. Left to themfelves, they hunt in packs the few animals of the country, for the fake of prey. They exaftly refemble the Dogs of the EJkimaux of Labrador. It is probable, that they might have been ori- ginally brought here by their mafters, who firft fied that country, and po- pulated Greenland. Arctic Foxes abound herej and, with Polar Bears, infeft the country. Had I not fuch excellent authority, I fliould have doubted whether the Wolverene, ufually an inhabitant of wooded countries, was found in Greenland \ but it is certainly met with, yet rarely, in the fouthern parts, where it preys on the Rein-deer and White Hares. It muft have been originally wafted hither on the ice from terra de Labrador^ the neareft place to this of which it is an inhabitant. The Varving Hare is very common. The Walru, and five fpec ies of Seals, inhabit thefe feas : the Common, the Great, the Rough, the Hooded, the Harp, and an obfcure fpecies, called by the Laplanders^ Fatne Vindac^ with a round head and long fnout, bending like the probofcis of an elephant f. Mr. Fabrkius adds to the marine ani- mals, the Whale-tailed Manati, of which he once faw the head partly confumed. The Polar Bears, Seals, and Manati, were originally natives of thefe countries. The other Quadrupeds found their way here from either Hudjon's Bay or Labrador ^ on the iflands of ice. The Arctic Fox found QUAORUPEOS: * Faun. GrotnL p. 26. f Same, p. ly .•^fmLtems Lapm, 214J 215. Pp 2 the CCLXXXVtII m filRDS. Fishes. m WW ■ i OLD GREENLAND. the fame kind of conveyance from Greenland to Iceland as it did with th426 Crelted Titmoufe ? p. 427 F. Puffin, N''4»7 Little, N"429 N°437 CLOVEN-FOOTED Black Guillemot, WATER FOWL. Northern Diver, N"439 Red-throated D. N044J No 448 Common Heron, No 433 Great Tern, Snipe, No 366 Black-backed Gull, N''4Si Jadreka, No 375 CineroHsG.rLw.i'y T J • R.) 22A Glaucous, Ivory GulJ, Tarrock, Araic, Fulmar Petrel, Shearwater P. Goofander, Red-breafted G. Canada Goofe ? Grey lag Goofe, Brant, Bernacle, Eider Duck, King Duck, Golden Eye, Pin-tail, Long-tailed, Harlequin, Mallard, Monllon, Great Tern, Black- backed Gull, p. 53* B. N°457 P- 533 D. N°459 No 461 NO 46a N°465 No 466 N''47i No 47 8 N»47, No 480 NO 481 N°486 N-soo NOjor No 490 N«494 P- 573 F. N''448 N-4J, The fifth fpec.« 18 very doubtful. Except the Canada Goofe ? there is not a fnecies of B.rd vvhch ts not found in Eur.pe. This induces me to place all thofe of G.^W ith^ appendage, to the genera, « the^ feem to W little clame to J»,n»», fiiiwry OLD GREENLAND. fifhery for t^em by the Dutchy in Difco Bay, as early as April*. The natives take them at other times, cut ofF the blubber in an awkward manner, and preferve that and the whalebone as articles of commerce. It is certain that they do not drink train-oil, like the true EJkimaux, and fome other congenerous people f. The fpecies which frequent Greenland are, the Monodon Monoceros, or Narwhal, Lin. Syft. 105 : the MoNODON Spurius, Faun. Groenl. N" 19 , a rare fpecies, with two teeth, about an inch long, projefting from the extremity of the upper jaw : the Bal^na Mystecetus, or Common W..ale, Br. Zool. iii. N" 16 : Bal^na Physalus, or Finfish, N" 18 : Bal^na Boops, Fam. Groenl. N" 22 : Bal^na Musculus, or Round -lipped, N-ip: theBAL^NA Rostrata, Faun. Groenl. N' 84 ; a very fmall fpecies with a long fnout : Physeier Macrocephalus, Faun. Groenl. N" 25 : Physeter Catodon, or Round-headed Cachalot, Br. Zool. iii. N" 22 : Physeter Microps, or Blunt-headed Cachalot, Br. Zool. iii. N° 21 : Delphinus Orca, Spekhugger, or Gram- pus, Faun. Groenl. N° 28 ; the tormentor of the greater Whales, whom they will fix on, as Bull-dogs will on a Bull, and tear out large pieces from their bodies : Delphinus PnoCiENA, the Porpesse, Br. Zool. iii. N" 25 : Delphinus Delphis, or the Dolphin, N°24: the Delphinus TuRSJo, or the Butskopf, N° 26 : and finally, the Delphinus Albi* CANS, or Beluga Whale, p. 182 of this Work, which enlivens thoft waters*with its refplendent whitenefs. Among the cartilaginous fpecies are the Raia Fullonica, Lin. Syft. 396 : the White Shark, Br. Zool. iii. N" 42, equallv voracious from the equator to the ArSiic circle j and, with fiercenefs unfubdued by cli- mate, often bites in two the Greenlanders fitting in their Seal-fkin canoes : the Picked Shark, Br. Zool. N" 40 : the Basking Shark, N" 41 : the Squalus Pristis, or Saw Shark, Lin. Syjl. 401 : the Lump Sucker, Br. Zool. iii. N" 57 j a great article of food with the natives : Cyclop- terus Spinosus, or Spiny Sucker, Faun, Groenl. N°93: Cyclop- CCLXXXIX • Crautz, i. 1118. t EgtJt, 134.— Crfl«/«, i. 144. TERUS Hi ccxc III OLD GREENLAND. TERus MiNUTus of Pallas, SpicH. Zool. fafc. VII. 12. tab. ii, or the Minute, N' 94 : the Unctuous Sucker, Br. Zool, N° 58. Of the boney Fifhes, the Eel, Br. Zool. N° d^^ is rarely found in the fouthern rivers. The Wolf-fish, W 6Sy appears here in the fpring with the Lump Fifh, and difappears in autumn. The Greenland Faunift defcribes a leffer variety, in N" 97, b. The Launce, Br. Zool. iii. N" 66 '. the Ophidium Viride, Faun. GroenL N° 99 : the Haddock, Br. Zool. iii. N° 74, is plentiful here in winter. Gadus Callarias, or Varied Cod, Lin. Syjl. ^^6i and Common Cod, Br. Zool. iii. N° 7j, frequent the coafts in fpring and autumn. The Pout, N° 75 : Gadus ViRENS, or Green Cod, Lin. Syfi. 438 : the Hake, Br. Zool. N° 81 : the Ling, N" 85 : and the Gadus Brosme, Faun. Groenl. N" 107, are Ipecies of Cod-fifli found in thefe feas. The Spotted Blenny, Br. Zool. iii. N" 93. A new fpecies, the Blennius Punctatus, Faun. Groenl. N° iio; and that curious fifh the Coryph^na Rupestris, N" III, A£}. Nidr. iii. tab. iiij the firft rare, the laft frequent in the deep fouthern bays. The Armed Bull-head, Br. Zool. iii. N° 98. The Father Lasher, N° ^^, is a moft common fifh, and Angularly ufeful. Cottus Scorpioides, Faun. Groenl. N° 1145 Quadricornis, Lin. Syft' 451 i and the River Bull-head, Br. Zool. iii. N' 97, nre found here in falt-water. The Zeus Gallus, Lin. Syji. 454, a fiiTi of the hottefl parts of South America^ is fufpefted to be found here. The Ho- LiBUT, Br. Zool. iii. N° 102, is very common ; as is the Pleuronectes Cynoglossus, Faun. Groenl. N°ii8; and the new fpecies, Pl. Pla- TESsoiDEs, N° 119, is feen here in fmall numbers near the mouths of rivers. Labrus Exoletus, Faun. Groenl. N° 120: Striped Wrasse ? Br. Zool. iii. 119 : Perca Norvegica, Faun. Groenl. N° 121 : Three- Spined Stickleback, Br. Zool. iii. N° 129, not only in rivers but places overfiowed by the fea. The Salmon, N" 143, is extremely fcarce at prefent j yet in Davis's time, was among the prefents made to him by the favagesj and Baffin * faw moft amazing fhoals of thefe fifh in Cochin's • Purebv, iii. 848. Sound OLD GREENLAND. CCXCI ■Seuti4i on this weftern coaft, in lat. 65. 45. The Salmo Carpio, Fauti. Groenl. N° 1 24, is one of the moft common and ufeful fifhes j is frequent in the lakes, rivers, and eftuaries. The Char, Br. Zool. iii. N° 149, conforts with the other, and is as common. The Salmo Stagnalis, Faun. Groenl. N° 126, a new fpecies, found remote in the mountain lakes, and caught only by the hunters of Rein-deer. The Salmo Rivalis, N° 127, is another, inhabiting fmall brooks. The Salmo ARCxrcus, N° 128, or Capelin of the Newftundland filhers *, is the laft of this genus, but the moft ufeful j the daily bread, and the fifh in higheft efteem with the Greenlandersy and providentially given to them in the greateft abundance. The Common Herring, Br. Zool. iii. N" 160, is a rare fifli in thefe feasi as is the Anchovy, N* 163. The fame indefatigable Zoologift hath difcovered in this country (in- cluding cruftaceous) not fewer than ninety-one Infedls, a hundred and twenty-fix Vermes, fifty-nine fhells, and forty-two Zoophytes. John Davis, a moft able feamen, was the firft who examined the weft john Davis fide of Greenland. Before his time the eaftern coaft was the only part known to £«ropw«j. He made there three different voyages, in 1585, 1586, and 1587. After doubling Cape Farewell, he founded, and could not find bottom with three hundred fathoms of line. North of what he properly called the Land of De/olation, he arrived in a filthy, black, and ftagnating water, of the depth of a hundred and twenty fathoms. He found drift-wood in lat. 6^, and one entire tree fixty feet long, with its root J the fpecies were Fir, Spruce, and Juniper j-, which came down from remote places on the banks of the rivers of Hud/on's Bay ; for Mr. Hut- thins aflures me, that to this day, in certain years, vaft quantities of timber are brought down with the ice at the opening of the rivers. He alfo met with black Pumices ^, whether from neighboring volcanoes, burning or extinft, remains unknown j or whether, which is moft probable, con- veyed there from Iceland. The ftone of the country is moftly granitical« H ? , HIS Discoveries. > < m • See it well engraven in M. Du Hamel, Hijl. de Poijons, part ii. tab. xxvi. f Davis's Foji. in HacUuyt, iii. loi. J Same, in. Some ■■H-'s ««^*^" ' BAFFIN'S BAY. Some fand-ftone, and many forts of coarfe marble. The Lapis Ollaris is found here in abundance, and of great ufe to the natives for making of pots. Talc is frequent here, Afbeftos, and Gypfum. Granates are not uncommon. Sulphureous Marcafites, which have more than once de- ceived the navigators with the opinion of their being gold *. The mineral fymptoms of copper, fuch as ftains of blue and green, are feen on thefe rocks ; but avarice itfelf wiU never tempt adventurers to make here a trial. Davis's ftreights is frequented by fome of ou; \ L--fi(hers : they fail • • ^^°"™ ^"^^'^"^ O' S-J Tarmouth, the beginning ut March, arrive there about the middle of ^;»r;7, and go up the ftreights two hundred leagues, towards Difco bay, or North-eaft bay, ufually called by the feamen North, eafi But. In thefe parts the Whales are larger, but fewer than in the Spitzbergen feas. Seals there are alfo fcarcer. It is fingular that no Intel- ligence is to be obtained concerning Baffin's bay, from thefe navi- gators. Davis got as high as lat. 72, and called the country London Coaji The ftreight he paffed, between the weft of Greenland and the great iftands, is honored by his name. He feems to have been engaged among the great iftands; for he fays he failed ftxty leagues up a found, found the fea of the fame color with the main fea, and faw feveral Whales. He failed through another found to the fouth-weft, found ninety fathom' water at the entrance j but within could not touch ground with three hundred and thirty. He had hopes of having found the lonp^-fought-for paflage The tides rofe fix or feven fathoms; but, as is frequent among idands, the flood came from fuch variety of places, that he could not trace its prin- cipal 01 igin f. ^ B..M»»s Bat. At lat. 72. 30, 1 muft take as mypilot that great feaman miliam Baffin who gave name to the great bay I now enter on. His firft voyage was in 1613 i his fecond, in which he made the moft effedual trial for the north- • PHrthas, iii. isi.^Egede, 32. f Hackluyt, iii. 102. weft M B A F F I N'S BAY. CCXCIII weft" weft pafTige, was in 1616. He paflcd through Davis's Slrcights. In lat. 70. 20, on the London Coafty he found the tides rife only eight or nine feet. In Horn Sounds lat. 73. 45, he met with fcveral people ♦. To the north of that, in 75. 40, was a large and open bay ; Cape Dudley Digges forms its northern point; within h U^ejienholme Sound; beyond that, fVhale Sound; and in the extreme north, or bottom of this great bay, is that named by Baffin after Sir Thomas Smith, lying in 78 degrees. In thofe three founds were abundance of Whales j but in the laft the largeft in all this bay. It is highly probable, that there are one or more com^ munications from hence to the Icy Sea, through which the Whales pafs at certain feafons $ and this (if I may colledt from their numbers) might be that of their migration fouthward. The diftance into the Icy Sea can be but very fmall, but probably blocked up with ice j or if not, from the fudden Ihifting of the ice in that fea by the change of wind, the paflage muft be attended with too great hazard to be attempted. The ice pre- vented our great feaman from making trial of the tides in this bay, which would have brought the matter to greater certainty. He faw multitudes of PFalru/es and Seals in thefe parts, but no figns of inhabitants. From hence the land trended wefterly, to a found he called by the name of Jl~ derman Jones, in lat. 76. 40. Here the land ran due fouth to a great found in lat. 74. 20, which he called Sir James Lancajler's. From t4»a place the land took an eaftern curvature, to the ftreights between the con- tinent and Cumberland ifland. Baffin took his courfe between that ifle and the ifle of Saint James, left his name to the ftreight he paflfed, and arriveii fafe in Cochin's Sound, on the coaft of fVeft Greenland, where he- found the tide rife eighteen feet : this, and fimilar excefles, arifing from the confined fituation of places -f. , This is the only voyage ever made into Baffin's Bay. Chriftian IV. of Denmark, 'n 16 19, fent John Munck, a moft able feaman, to make difco- veries in thefe parts ^ but, jiotwithftanding any furmifes of his having • Hackluyt, iii, 846. t For the account of this curious voyage, fee Punhas, iii. from p. 836 to 848. Qj\ reached V It* ■ lit I tCXCIT HUDSON'S BAY. reached this famous bay, he got no farther than UudJorCs Bay ; to which, in honor of his maftcr, he gave the name of Chriftian Sea. He paffed a miferable winter in Churchill river, and returned home the next year, after lofing, during his (lay on fliore, every man but two*. MuNcK. never reached beyond lat. 63. 30. A cruel fate attended this able feaman. Being ftill pcrfuaded of the poflibility of a north-weft paf- fage, he engaged feveral opulent people in the defign, who equipped two veffels, and committed them to his care. On taking leave of his prince, Chriftian IV. fome difcourfe arofe concerning his late expedition. The king ungencroufly reproached him with being the caufe of its mifcarriage. Mutjcky indignant at the afperfion, anfwered his majefty with warmth, on which the king ftruck him with his cane. Munck was fo affedled, that he took to his bed, refufed all food, and died of grief at the unjuft ufage he had experienced f. Hvosok'j Bay* Chesterfield Inlet. We now proceed through a namelefs ftreight, between the main land and the two great iflands on the eaft j and, after doubling Cape South- ampUfij enter into Hudfon's Bay, in the gulph called the fFelcome. This bay was difcovered in 16 10, by that able feaman Henry Hudfon, from whom it takes its name. His view, in the voyage he made, was the dif- covery of a paffage to the Eaft Indies. The trial has been vigoroufly purfued fince his days, but without fuccefs. In 1742 an attempt was made, as low as the bottom of the Welcomey by Captain Middleton ; and from the check he met with, he called that part Repulfe Bay. In fubfe- quent trials Wia^'s IVat^r was fufpeded to be the paffage into the Weft- crn ocean ; but in 1747 its end was difcovered, and found to terminate in two navigable rivers. The romantic fcenery which the adventurers met with in the way is moft admirably defcribed by the elegant pen of Mr. Henry EMis. Chefterfteldy or Bowden^s Inlets was likewife fufpefted to have been the defired ftreight j but in 1762 Meffrs. Norton and Chriftophery in a floop and cutter, belonging to the Company, went to the remoteft end. At the diftance • Gierk of the California's Vcy, i. ro6.— For a further account of this unfortunate voyage, Q«rrt&j//'sColkaJOP,, 55. 47 s, ^ Cku.rchill=iff(i. HUDSON'S BAY. of a hundr d and twenty-eight miles from the mouth was fcarcely any tide; thirty miles farther it quite died away. The land here grew concrafled into a very narrow paflage. Here the adventurers entered with the cut- ter, and difcovered that the end was in a magnificent frefh-watcr lake, to which was given the name o{ Baker's. The land was quite level, rich in grafs, and abounding with Deer. They found the end quite innavigable, and to terminate in a fmall ftream, with many Ihoals at its mouth, and three falls acrofs it. After finding the water decreafe to the depth of two feet, they returned fully fatisfied with their voyage. . Hudjon's Bay has been fo frequently defcribed, that I fliall only give a general view of it and its adjacent parts. Its entrance from the ocean, after leaving to the north Cape Farewell and Baviis Streighis, is between Refolution ifies on the north, and Button's ifles, on the Labrador coaft, to the fouth, forming the eaftcrn extremity of the ftrcights diftinguilhed by the name of its great dilcoverer. The coafts very high, rocky, and rugged at top; in places precipitous; but fometimes exhibit large beaches. The ifies of Salijbury, Nottingham^ and Digges, are alfo very lofty, and naked. The depth of water in the middle of the bay is a hundred and forty fathoms. From Cape Churt'l The boats or (hallops are forty feet in the keel, ligged with a main, NHwrot/Kn, .,,„ maft and foremaft, and lugfailsj furnilhcd with four oars, three of which Vx^m^x. row on one fide, and the other (which is twice as large) belays the other three, by being rowed fideways over the ftern, by a man who ftands up for that purpofe, with his face towards the rowers, coun- teraaing them, and (leering at the fame time as he gives way to the boat. Eacli of the men in this boat is furnilhed with two lines, one at each fide of the boat, each furniflied with two hooks j fo here are fixtccn hooks Hackluyt, iii. 159. conftantly CCCI7 NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERY. conftantly employed; which are thought to make a tolerable good day's work of it, if they bring in from five to ten quintals of fifti, though they have ftowage for, and fometimes bring in thirty. Two hundred quintals is called a faving voyage; but not under. The bait is fmall fi(h of all kinds; Herring, Capelin, Lance, Tom Cod, or young Cod; the firft of which they fait, and keep for fome time, in cafe of fcarcity of the reft ; but thefe are not near fo eagerly taken by the fi(h when falted. In cafe fmall filh cannot be got, they ufc fca-fowl, which are eafily taken in vaft numbers, by laying nets over the holes in the rocks where they come to rooft in the night. If neither fmall fifli nor birds are to be got, they are forced to ufc the maws of filh they catch, which is the worft bait .of any. " When the filh are taken, they are carried to the ftage, which is built with one end over the water for the conveniency of throwing the ofFals into the fea, and for their boats being able to come clofe to difcharge tJicir fifli. As foon as they come on the ftage a boy hands them to the header, who ftands at the fide of a table next the water end; whofe bufinefs it is to gut the fifh and cut off the head, which he does by prefling the back of the head againft the fide of the table, which is made lliarp for that purpofe; when both head and guts fall through a hole in the floor into the water. He then fhoves the fifli to the fplitter, who ftands oppofite to him : his bufinefs is to I'plit the fifti, beginning at the head, and opening it down to the tail; at the next cut he takes out the larger part of the back-bone, which falls fhrough the floor into the water. He then Ihoves the fifli off the table, which drops into a kind of hand-barrow, which as foon as filled, is carried off to the fait pile. The header alfo flings the liver into a feparate baflcet, for the making of train-oil, ufed by the curriers, which bears a higher price than Whale-oil. " In the fait pile, the fifli are fpread upon one another, with a layer of fait between. Thus they remain till they have taken fait ; and then are carried, and the fait is waftied from them by throwing them off from ftiore in a kind of float called a Pound. As foon as this is completed, they are carried to the laft operafibn, of drying them; which is done on ftanding flakes NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERY. occv flakes made by a flight wattle, juft flrong enough to liipport the men who lay on the fifli, fupportcd by poles, in fome places as ivigh as twenty (ect from the ground : here they are expofcd, with the open fide to the fun ; and every night, when it is bad weather, piled up five or fix on a heap, with a large one, his back or (kinny part uppermoft, to be a ihelter to the reft from rain, which hardly damages him through his flcin, as he refts flanting each way to flioot it off. When they are tolerably dry, which in good weather is in a week's time, they are put in round piles of eight or ten quintals each, covering them on the top with bark. In thefe piles they remain three or four days to fweatj after which they are again fi)read, and when dry put into larger heaps, covered with canvas, and left till they arc put on board. " Thus prepared, they are fent to the Mediterranean, where they fetch a good price; but are not efteemed in England: for which place another kind of fifli is prepared, called by them Mud Fiflij which, inftead of being fplit quite open, like their dry nfl^, are only open- ed down to the navel. They are falted, and lie in fait, which is ■waftied out of them in the fame manner with the others; but in- ftead of being laid out to dry, are barrelled up in a pickle of fait boiled ia water. " The train-oil is made from the livers : it is called fo to diftinguifti it from Whale or Seal oil, which they call fat oil, and is fold at a lower price (being only ufed for lighting of lamps) than the train-oil, which is ufed by the curriers. It is thus made : — They take a half tub, and, boring a hole through the bottom, prefs hard down into it a layer of fpruce boughs j upon which they place the livers ; and cxpofe the whole apparatus to as funny a place as poflible. As the livers corrupt the oil runs from them, and, ftraining itfelf clear through the fpruce boughs, is caught in a velTel fet under the hole in the tub's bottom." I muft acknowlege my obligations to vice admiral Campbel, for th« trouble he took in procuring, during his goverament, the foHowin accounts from the different divifions of the great ifland of Newfound- landy It' ' I ii " } eocvi^ NEWFOUNDLAND. landi and fome additions to the manner of carrying on its moft important fifhery. Within the circuit of fixty miles of the fouthern part, the country is hilly, but not mountanous. The hills increafe in height as they recede from the fea; their courfe is irregular, not forming a chain of hills, but rife and fall abrupdy. The coafts are high, and the fhores moft remarkably bold. The fame may be faid of almoft every part of this vaft ifland. The country is much wooded, and the hills (fuch which have not flat tops, to admit the rain to ftagnate on them) are cloathcd with birch, wich hazel, fpruce, fir, and pine, all fmall; which is chiefly owing to the inhabitants taking ofi^ the bark to cover the fifh ftages. TKispemZ Jula is fo indented by the fine and deep bays of Placentia, St, Mary, Conception, and trinity, that it may be eafily penetrated in all parts, -which is done for the fake of fowling, or the procuring of fpars for mafts! oars, &c. The ifland is on all fides more or lefs pierced with deep bays, which peninfulate it in many places by ifthmufes moft remarkably narrow. The mountains on the fouth-weft fide, near the fea, are very high, and terminate in lofty headlands. Such are Chapeau rouge, a moft remarkably high promontory ; Cape St. Mary's, and Cape le Hune. Such in general is the formation of the ifland: on the north-eaft, moft of the hills in the in- terior parts of the country terminate pyramidally, but form no chain. The interior parts of the country confift chiefly of morafles, or dry barren hummocks, or level land, with frequent lakes or ponds, and in fome places covered with ftunted black fpruce. The rivers o^ Newfoundland are unfit for navigation, but they are of ufe in floating down the wood with the fummer floods. Still the rivers and the brooks are excellent guides for the hunters of beavers, and other animals, to penetrate up the country; which as yet has never been done deeper than thirty miles. Near the brooks it is, that timber is commonly met with, but feldom above three or four miles inland, and in valliesj the hills in the northern diftrift being naked and barren. In In NEWFOUNDLAND F'iSHERY. In fome parts q( Newfoundland there is timber fufficiently large for the building of merchant Ihips : the hulk is made of the black larch, and the pine furnilhes mafts and yards; but as yet none has been found large enough for a maft for a large cutter. The fifliery is divided into two feafons: that on the fhore, or the ihore feafon, commences about the 20th of 4)r/7, and end. about the loth of OSiober; the boats fifli in from four to twenty fathoms water. The moft important, the bank-fifhing feafon, begins the loth o( May, and continues till the laft o{ September, and is carried on in thirty to forty- five fathoms depth of water. Banking veffels have failed from St. John's to the bank as early as the 1 2th of 4>n7. At firft they ufe pork or birds for a bait ; but as they catch filh, they fupply themfelves with a fhell-fifh called clams, which is found in the belly of the cod. The next bait is the lobfter 5 after that, the herring, and the launce, Br. Zool. III. N" 66, which laft till June, when the capelan comes on the coaft, and is another bait. In Auguft xktjquid comes into ufe, and finally the herring again. The greateft number of cod-fiih taken by a fingle fifherman in the feafon, has been twelve thoufandj but the average is feven thoufand. The largeft fifli which has been taken was four feet three inches long, and weighed forty-fix pounds. A banking veffel often thoufand fifh ought to be filled in three weeks and fo in proportion; and eighty quintals (112 lb. each) for a boat in the fame time. In 1785. five hundred and forty-one £»^/5/&veffelsfilhed on the bank; a number exceeding that of the French. A heap of dried fifh twenty feet long, and ten wide, and four deep, con- tains three hundred quintals. Such an heap fettles, in the courfe of forty- eight hours after it is made, about i - 1 2th. An extraordinary fplitter will fplit five quintals of filh in an hour. The average in that time is two. There is no fifhing during winter, on account of the inclemency of the feafon^ CCCTII •II if CCCVIIf CAPE BRETON. NOVA SCOTIA. Cape Breton, NojTA Scotia. feafon. It is fuppofed that the filh in a great meafure quit the banks be- fore that time, as in general they are very fcarce when the fifliing veflels go upon the banks early in the fpring. There are a few fmall towns on the coafts, which have gardens fown with Englijh pulfe j but many of the inhabitants quit the country in winter. An admiral, or fome fea officer, is governor of Newfoundland, He fails from England in May^ and returns by the 30th of November. The barren ifland oiCape Breton forms one fide of the great entrance inta the gulph of St. Laurence. It is high, rocky, and dreary : rich in thick beds of coal, and may prove the Newcaftle of America, This ifle was firft difcovered by Sir Humphry Gilbert^ in his fatal voyage. It was foon after frequented, on account of the Walrufes, and the fifliery of Whales. Amonor the earlieft adventurers wers the induftrious Bifcayeners, who feem to have been our mafters in the art. Till of late years it had been impor- tant by being the feat of the French fifliery j but the ftrong fortrefs of Z-ouiJhourg is now deniolifhed, and the place deferted. • The great peninfula of Neva Scotia is feparated from Cafe Breton by a narrow ftreight. It was in 1 6 1 6 poffefled by the French, who attempted to colonize it from their new fettlement in Canada-, but they were foon ex- pelled by the Englijh, who deemed it part of North Virginia; the whole continent, at that time, going under the name of Virginia, fo called, origi- nally, in honor of our virgin queen. The French had given it the name o^Acadie. James I. made a grant of the country to Sir fVUliam Alexander in 16 2 1, on condition that he would form there a fettlement. It then re- ceived the title of Nova Scotia, In order to encourage Sir William, he planned the order of baronets, which is called after the country. To every knight who would engage to colonize any part, a grant was to be made of certain portions of land. The order was not inftituted till 1625, when a number were created, and they held their lands from the crown oi Scotland as a. free barony, with great privileges to all who would fettle in tlie country. NOVA SCOTIA, CCGIK country*. The defign almoft inftantly failed, and the French were per- mitted to repoflefs themfelves of the province. Its value became known, and fince that period it has frequendy changed matters. It never was efFeaually fetded till the year 1749, when a large colony was fent there under the aufpices of the Earl o( Halifax. The climate of this province is, during the long winter, extremely CtmATx, fevere, and the country covered with fnow many months: the fummer mifty and damp. The face of it is in general hilly j but can fcarcely be called mountanous, being the lowered continuation of the great chain which pervades the whole continent. The ground is not favorable to agricul- ture, but may prove excellent for pafturage. Due attention to die breeding of cattle will not only repay th. induftry of the farmer, by the home con- fumption, but be an extenfive benefit to our iflands. The country cannot boaft, amidft its vaft torefts, timber fit for large mafts, nor yet for the building of large fhipsj yet it will prove an inexhauftible maga- zine for that fpecies of timber called lumber, fo effemial to our fugar plan- tations. Its fituadon, in refpeft to the fiiheries, is fcarcely inferior to that of Its FisHBuiis. Newfoundland. The vaft banks, called Sable IJland\ Brown's, and St. George\ with many others, are frequented by myriads of Cod-filh. It is the duty of the Parent State to encourage, with all diligence, diis branch of commerce} and in a manner fo expeditious and fo frugal, as may antici- pate and underfell foreign adventurers. Without that, our remnants of the New World will be but of little ufe. The fiiheries, the ftaples of Nova Scotia and NewfomdlarJ, are open to other nations; and if they are permitted to excel us in expedition and frugality, our labors are truly vain. It is to the antient hardy colonifts we muft look up for the fupport of the toils of the fea, and the advantages we may expeft to gain from them: they lliould have their encouragement. But there is another fet of men who of late (a public calamity) have made m . S'l • Collinses Baronets t'w. 330. hither cccx NOVA SCOTIA. CoAiTg. hither an involuntary migration, who with fad hearts recoUeft their exiled land : Nos Patrix fines, et dulcia linqu'tnus arva: Nos Patriam fugimus. Theie fufferers are in general unufed to the fatigue* of a maritime life, and ought to be foftered, for their filial piety, at firft, with a parental carej to be encouraged in the paftoral life, or in fuch arts as may fupply the failor and the filherman with food, and with materials for their profcfllons. If the climate is fit for corn, for flax and hemp, let due rewards be given for the fuccefsful efibrts of their induftry. The fucceeding generation, • hardened to the climate, and early habituated to another kind of life, may join the maritime adventurers, and give importance to themfelves, and (Irength to the ifland from which they fprung. The coafts of this province are, in general, rude and rocky, with fomc variations. It is peninfulated by the Atlantic ocean and gulph of St. Laurence, and joined to tiie main land by a narrow ifthmus. From Bay Verty on the northern fide, the fhore is bounded with red cliffs, with beaches beneath, as far as Pert Luttrely and the fame to a remarkable high rock, called, from its Ihape, 'The Barn. Cape George terminates the coaft to the eaft. This promontory is iron-bound, and very high, its fummit afpiring to four hundred and twenty feet above the fea. This, with Point Hood on the Cape Breton fide, forms a great bay. On the weftern fliore, between Cape George and the entrance of the Plaster Cliffs, gutof Cfl^o, are moft remarkable cliffs ofplafter, lofty precipices, and ex- tremely white. The gut of Canjo divides Nova Scotia from Cape Breton. It is not above a mile wide : it opens into Chedabv.^o Bay, which penetrates far into land. Cape CanJo forms the moft eaftern point on this fide of the gut J tiie land trends far to the weft; from Can/o to 'Torbay breaks into feveral whice rocky heads. Beaver Harbour is guarded by moft pidlurefque illes, rounded, with wooded tops. As far as Halifax it vafies, with banks of red earth or white infulated rocks : the capes and external ifles are bounded Beaver Har- bour. NOVA SCOTIA. cccxr bounded with black flaty rocks, running generally out in fpics from eafl: to weft, from the Rugged Iflands to the Devil's IJle. Off Halifax arc remark- ably high red cliffs, linked with beaches : from thence to Cape SahU^ an ifland which forms the moft wcftern extremity, is often broken, rocky, and white } but from Port Ualdimand to Cape Sable the land appears level and low, with a fhore of exceedingly white fund. About twenty-three fca leagues from Cape Canjo, in lat. 44, lies the i,i,e deSabh. lingular IJle de Sable^ or of Sand. It is in Ihape of a bow, in length about eight leagues, and not above a mile and half broad in the broadeft part. In the middle is a narrow pond of fea-water, running about half the length, which is filled every tide from the fea's rufhing through a little gut on the north fide. This pond contains multitudes of Seals, fome flat fifti. Eels, &c. and has about twelve feet depth at low-water. The en- trance is often choaked with fand by a ftrong north wind, and cleared by the next fouthern blaft. This ifland lies on a vaft fand-bank, on which the water gradually deepens to fifty fathoms. At each end is a bar : the water breaks on them often maft high j and there is, befides, a furf beat- ing continually on the fliore, to be heard in calm weather feveral leagues. No boats can approach the ifland without rifque. Landing is prafticablc on the north fliore only, and that only in calm weather. The north bar breaks, in bad weather, feven or eight leagues from the fliore ; and thou- fands of fliijps have been loft about this place. M. Dp. Barres * was two years in furveying this fatal traft, and his fcrvices have been lately rewarded by the government of the ifles of St. John and Cape Breton, un- der the name of that o( Lunenburgh. The whole ifle confifts of fine white fand mixed with white tranfparent ftones, but coarfer than in the adjacent foundings : the face is much broken, and hove up into little hills, knobs, and cliffs, wildly heaped together. In the hollo >;s are ponds of frefli water, frequented at times by variety of fowls. On the flcirts grow juniper and blue berries in their feafon, and cranberries all the year. Here are • To this gentleman's labors we owe the accurate charts of thefe and fome other parts of ■Mopth Amnica, the raoft elegant and magnificent work of its kind extant. S f 2 no ma'" In W- ill 1; i CCCXII NOVA SCOTIA. lAND Manan Isle. no trees, but pletity of beach grafs, wild pcafe. Sec. which fervc to fupport the horfes, cows, and hogs, which run about in a (late of nature. Wrecks and drift-wood afford fewel. The whole ifle has a ftrange appearance j for the fand-hills have a conoid Ihape, are milk white, and fomc of them arc a hundred and forty-fix feet above the level of the fea. Bav or FuNi>r. I quit this fingular fpot to return to Cape Sable/yn^ beyond which com- mences the great bay of Fundyy with infinite variety of pidurefque and fublime fcenery. The bay divides at the bottom into two others, the bay of Minesy and that of ChigneSfo j and, like the reft of the coaft of this province, has numbers of fine harbours. Far from the (hore of every part of Nova Scotia extends a fkirt of fand, with deep water, and fine anchorage ; but the harbours are moft fecure retreats. Grand Manan ifle is very lofty, and lies in the mouth of the bay of Funtfyt nearer to the weftern fide. The bay of St. Mary^ which lies on the eaftern, is guarded by an extent of land and iflands j the entrances between two of them, diftinguiflied by the name of the Grand and Petit Pajfage, are particularly noble, very lofty, with valt mural fronts, and their tops finely cloathed with trees. The gut or entrance into tlie harbour of Annapolis Royal is narrow, has not lefs grandeur, nor is it wholly diflimilar. The ifle of HautCt which lies in the middle of the approach to the bay of Mines, rifes fub- lime with mural fides out of the water, and is crowned with trees : from it is vaft variety of beautiful fcenery j fuch as Cape ChigneSlo, Cape Bore, and Cape Split i the laft named from the vaft columnar rocks which rife before it to an amazing height. Nearly oppofite is Partridge IJland, re- markable for the inclined difpofition of its rocks. Cape Bloiv-me-down is another great precipice, not far to the eaft. Between thefe the ftream of the current runs at the rate of five or fix knots, even at neap tides. The tides in parts of the bay of Fundy rife to an amazing height, and force themfelves into the great creeks with a bore or head from fifty to feventy-two feet high, and with prodigious rapidity. Hogs, which feed along the ftiores, are much more fenfible of its approach than mankind : they VlEWS.^ High Tides. NOVA SCOTIA. cccxiir tlicy are obfcrved to liften, to prick up their ears for fomc time, and then run off at full fpccd. The bay of ChigneSlo is the laiV. This runs far inland, and is fepa- rated by the ifthmus from the gulph of St. Laurenci, If we reckon to Tat Iithmwi. Bay Vert, it is only twenty miles in breadth; but if we compute the fpacc between Petendiac river and Shediac, on the fide of the gulph, only four- teen. From hence the Ihore extends to the fouth-wcft -, and we retain as far as the river St. Croix — a wretched barren remnant of near half of the New World.— Humiliating profpcdt ! the fad reverfe of the (hort fpace of twenty years !— My eyes withdraw themfclves from the mortifying fight. Britain, who fate (by the wifdom of one man) as the Queen of Nations, now deplores her folly ; and ought to confefs, that * thofc things which Ihould have been for her wealth, proved to her an occafion of falling.* She funk under the delufion of profperity, by falfe fccurity, and the pride of viaories. If fhe makes a proper ufe of adverfity, (he ftill may rife into glory and wealth, by honeft induftry, and by the repreflion of rapacity and profligate ambition.— -Once more, O gracious Heaven, endeavour to fave an ungrateful people ! once more raife up fome great inftrument to execute thy mercies !— Pour with full meafure, into our youthful Mi- nifter, the virtues of his father !— Emulate, young Man, his conduft ! pcrfift in your glorious career 1 and then— ( \ 1 ! «| Si qua fata afpera rumpat, Tu Marcbllvi erh. SUPPLE. cccxr SUPPLEMENT. IN my land travels I have never failed pointing out the places of flaughtcr refulting fronn a ftrife for fuperiority between rival nations, or the luft of power in princes, or of gain in the mercantile world, or the want of due fubmifllon to lawful government in the people, or the madnefs of enthufiafm, or the pride of nations too often arifing from an unfortunate feries of fuccefles over neighbors deftined to flourifh in their t\«rn. Providence feldom fails punilhing an abufe of its favors. Britain at this moment feels the fcourge, tb juft chaftifement of its want of moderation. I muft net overlook the great naval adions of our countrymen, which often ftained.our narrow feas with gore. Mention may be made in this page of the fierce conteft between the fleet of Philip de ValoiSi confifting of four hundred fhips manned with forty thoufand men, and that of Edward III. confifting of two hundred and fixty, commanded by the king in perfon. The adion happened o^ Sluys^ in June 1340. Vidlory de- clared for the Englijh. The carnage of the enemy was prodigious, and chiefly owing to the number, Ikill, and courage of the Etiglijh archers. Thirty thoufand were killed or drowned, and above two hundred and thirty of their largeft fhips taken : the lofs of the Englijh very inconfider- able. This fignal viftory gave occafion to the noble of that monarch, by which he alTerted the dominion of the fea, and fbvereignty of France. He appears completely armed in the middle of a fhip at fea; in his right hand is a fword, in the left a fhicld, with the arms of England and France; the royal ftandard difplayed at the ftern *. Sec Fouli's Coins, tab. I. gold coins. Tlie i ^ccxvi SEA FIGHTS. The obftinate contcfts on the coaft of Holland^ during the time of the Englijh commonwealth, and in the fucceeding reign of Charles II. were attended with torrents of the braveft blood of both the contending nations. The Dutch fought not merely for glory, or the fweets of commerce, but latterly ^ro oris et focis, Delenda eft Carthago was the maxim of one of Charles's minifters, which animated the Dutch to death or viftory. Naval ikill and defperate valour never were fo ftrongly exhibited by any people. The combatants often fought with fleets of eighty or a hundred line of battle fliips of a fide, furnifhed with every infernal engine which the fubtlety of an animated enemy could invent. The great De IFitte, foldier and ftatefman, firft introduced chain-fliot in the celebrated fight of four DAYS, which ended in the defeat of the Dutch, on their own coaft, on June 4th, 1666, notwithftanding we fuffered fo greatly by its ravages among our rigging. The Dutch commanders were De Ruyter and Fan Trompy of different faftions on fliore, and mortal enemies; at fea they thought only of their country. De Ruyter even faved his rival from the overpowerin» fire of die Engliflj-, having a mind fupeiior to the ruining of a party at home, at the expence of his country's welfare! !! The elder Van Tromp, the glory of Hollandy loft his life in a fierce en- gagement off the Texel, July 29th, 1653. Satiety of (laughter parted the combatants, and aftual wearinefs. Van Tromp fell fword in hand, fhot through the heart, in the very inftant of encouraging his men to refift to the laft moment of their lives. This was a fight of three DAYS ! this was the true period of obftinate conteft. A dreadful battle commenced o^Leofftoff, in Suffolk, on June 3d, 1665, between the Dutch under the command of Opdam, and the Englijh led by the duke of York, before a crown had deprived him of his courage : he fought with the trueft and moft perfevering bravery. The battle proved decifive. Opdam\ fhip was blown up : three Dutch admirals, befides him, were killed. It is faid that the viftory would have been more brilliant, but that during the night of purfuit, after the engagement, orders were pretended, in the duke's name, to flacken fail : they were unfortunately obeyed. SEA F I G H T S. CCCXVII obeyed, and the total dcftruftion of the Butch fleet prevented. This affair was ill enquired into: but not the left imputation fullicd the charadler of his highnefs. We might be content with the vidory. The Butch loft thirty Ihips : eight thoufand men were taken. We loft but one fliip, and had only eight hundred men killed or wounded. N ly perfons of rank were flain on board our fleet. The earl o( Falmouth ^ vortlilefa favorite, Lord Mujkerryy and Mr. Boyky of the noble family of l fington^ were killed on the quarter-deck by one fliot ; and the duke was covered with their gore, and even hurt by their fplinters. James Ley^ earl of Marlboroughy and Charles fVe^on, earl of Portlandy fell in the adion : the veteran admiral Lawjon died foon after of his wounds. On May 28th, 1672, a furprize of the duke o( I'ork by Be Ruyter, in Southwouldy alias Solebay, on the fame coaft, brought on a battle, fuftained on both fides with unparalleled valour and obftinacy. Tl:e Butch had the difadvantage, but nothing decifive followed, yet the death of the earl of Sandwichy fecond in command, would have caft a gloom over the greateft viftory. This nobleman poflTefll-d the higheft charadler of any of his time, for courage, abilities, munificence, and goodncfs. He fought in the Royal JameSy of a hundred guns; flew Van Gbefit, a Butch admiral, and beat off his fliip; funk another great ftiip j fent to the bottom two of the enemy's fire-fliips. Five hundred men (half of his crew) lay on Hie decks weltering in blood. A third fire-fliip fucceeding, this illuftrious hero was drowned in attempting to fave himfelf i and his fliip was blown up, with the remainder of his gallant companions. His body was found, and all due honors payed to it by his lamenting fovercign and grateful countrymen. and Mr. Light- /m^t Flora Sco/iea. Cardaminc Only on mountains j is found high on Smwdon. PLANTS. Cardamine petraea. Serratula alpina. Carduus helenoides. Lobelia Dortmanna, Viola grandiflora. Satyrium albidum. Carcx atrata. Salix herbacea. reticulata. Rhodiola rofea. Ofmunda crilpa. Acroftichum feptentrionale. Ilvenfe. The following catalogue is of plants, which in our ifland feem to affeft ftiil more northern fituations, or I may % are not found to the fouth of Yorkjhire -, and, refpedling Great Britain^ a few feem to be nearly local. Cynofurus casruleus. Cornus herbacea. Alchemilla alpina. Primula farinofa. Azalea procumbens. In Scotland only. Selinum paluftre. Inclines to the fouthern part of this clafs. Ligufticum Scoticum. Scotland only. Sibbaldia procumbens. The fame. Trientalis Europea. Vaccinium uliginofum. Pyrola fecunda. Andromeda poly folia. Arbutus uva urfi. Not farther fouth than the woods near Hexham y again not till we reach PeehleSy Rojsjh-r:, and the ifle of Skie, alpina. In Scotland only. T t a Saxifraga cccxix 1.% cccxx PLANTS, Saxifraga cxfpitora. Stellaria nemorum. Cherleria icdoides. Breadalbane and Baikeval, in the ifle of Rum. Sedum villofum. Rubus faxatilis. Dryas oftopetala. Found in Scotland and Ireland only. Adlasa fpicata. Gnaphalium fupinum. Omitted in the Flora Scotica^ having been difcovered after the publication. , In the north oi Scotland. Satyrium repens. In the north of Scotland. Ophrys corallorhiza. The fame. cordata: Torkjhire, Lancajhire, Ifle of Man^ and Scottijh highlands. Cypripedium calceolus. Near Ingleton and Clapham, in Tork^ Jhire. Ericaulon decangulare. in the ifle of Skie only, Betula nana. From Clydejdale to Ro/sjhire. Pinus fylveftris. At prefent native only in the Scottijh high- lands. It is to be remarked, that notwithfl:anding none of thefe plants are to be difcovered in Great Britain^ fouth of the line above drawn j yet moft if not all of them are to be found in very fouthern latitudes on the conti- nent. Numbers are inhabitants of Provence^ and other warm provinces in France *. Is it owing to fimilitude of foil, or of expofure, in diflimilar climates, which fliould occaflon in different places the produftion of the fame plants ? Or what fliould forbid the growth of fimilar plants in places nearly contiguous, and occafion their appearance almoft inftantly on a neighboring fpot ? Without reminding one of the queftion put by the wifefl: of men on a like embarraflrnent : • See Zflwar,?'^ Flore FRAN501SE. "Wm ERUPTION IN ICELAND. Why fliould one earth, one clime, one ftrcam, one breath, RAisa this to ftrength, and ficken that to death • ? Almoft every one of thefe plants is again found in a climate rery oppo- fite to the mild provinces which border on the Mediterranean fea; for there is fcarcely one which I have enumerated which is not met with in Sweden, or in Lapland^ and fome even in the diftant Iceland ■\, cccxxr I HERE introduce a very curious account of the eruption of fire in Iceland, mentioned in page lxii, tranflated from the Danijh account of Mr. Magnus Stephenjen, and communicated by the friendlhip of the inge- nious the late Mr. John Whitehurji. AN ACCOUNT OF THE ERUPTION OF FIRE IN ICELAND. UPON the ift of June, 1783, there was obferved a trembling or fliakmg of the earth, in the weftern part of the province of Shap- tarfiall, which increafed more and more until the nth. It was fo great that die inhabitants were under the neceflity of quitting their houfes, and lying at night in tents upon the open ground. All this time there was obferved a continual fmoke or fteam arifing out of the earth, in the northern and uninhabited parts of the country. Three fire-fpouts broke out of which that in the north-weft was the greateft; one of thefe fpouts broke out in mfarjdal, a little to the eaft of the river .S^^;,/^ ; the other two were a little weft of the river Hwerjisfliot Thefe three fire-fpouts, • A quellion put by Priori the mouth of Solomon, in his firft book. t See the catalogue of Iceland plants in vol. ii. of C/. -r.«'s and Po'-ocUen\ journey ia Meland. ' after *!il 'ill 1(11 cccxxii ERUPTION IN after they had rifen to a confiderable height in the air, were colleaed into one ftream, which rofe fo high as to be {een at the diftance of 34 miles *, and upwards. The whole country, for double that diftance all around, was continually covered with a thick fmoke and fteam not to be defcribed. The 8th of June gave fufRcient notice of the above-mentioned firc- fpouts breaking out, for upon that day the fire became vifible. It was mixed with prodigious quantities of brimftone, fand, pumice-ftones, and allies, which, being thrown up with great force,, noife, and fhaking of the earth, were fcattered in the neighborhood of the fpouts ; and a part of them being blown about by the wind (which at that time was very high) all over tiie country, fell in the fields, villages, and towns, at a confider- able diftance. The whole atmofphere was filled with fand, duft, and brimftone, fo thick as to occafion a continual darknefs. The pumice which fell in the villages, being red hot, did confiderable damage. Alon* with the pumice-ftones there fell a great quantity of a dirty fubftance like pitch, rolled up fometimes in the form of fmall balls, and fometimes like rings or garlands. The falling of thefe hot fubftances was attended with great mifchief, as they totally deftroyed all manner of vegetation that they came near. Upon the third day of this dreadful fhower, the fire became very vifible, and came out fometimes in a continued ftream, and fometimes in flallies or flames, which were feen at the diftance of 30 or 40 miles, accompanied at the fame time with a noife like thunder : this continued the v/hole fummer. Upon the fame day that the fire firft broke out, there fell a very great quantity of rain in all that neighborhood, which did almoft as much harm as the fire -, inafmuch as the great quantity of cold water, that ran in vaft ftreams upon the hot ground, tore up th. earth in large cakes, and carried it down into the lower fituations : befides, the water of this rain * The reader will obferve, that the diftances mentioned here are In the meafure oiDanlJh miles, twelve of which make one degree ; fo that each Danijh mile is nearly five and three quarters of our ftatute miles. was ICELAND. was ftrongly impregnated with falts of different kinds, and fulphur, which It had acquired m falling through the immenfe cloud of fmoke b.fore de-' fcnbed, and was fo Iharp and poifonous as to occafion a confiderable from the fire there was a great coldnefs in the atmofphere, and in fome ^aces there was a very heavy fall of fnow, fo that it lay upon level ground about three feet deep , ,n others fo great a quantity of hail, as to do very confiderable damage to the cattle, and every thing that was out. The grafs, and all manner of vegetables, which were already fcorched by the heat, fand, and pumice-ftones, were covered over with a thick cruft of brni^ftone and footy matter. The great heat of the ftreaming fire, meet- ing with fo large a body of water, occafioned fuch a vapour and fteam in the air as to darken the fun, which appeared like blood *, and the whole face of nature feemed to be changed. This lafted feveral days, the fand and pumice-ftones deftroying all the crops that were upon the ground the moment that they fell, burning up every thing that they touched • the wnole country was laid wafte, the cattle dying for want of food ; and the furviving or efcaping inhabitants flying from the horrid fcene, betook themfelves to other parts of the country, where they might hope for fafety, and left all their ftock and goods a prey to the outrages of thefe two turbulent elements. When the fire firft broke out, diere was a very confiderable increafe of water in the river 6'^«;,/^, upon the eaft fide of which one of the fire-fpouta was fituated, as was mentioned above : a fimilar overflow of water was obferved, at the fame time, in the great river Pior/a, which runs into the fea a little to the eaftward of the town Orei^akke, and into which th- river rum, after having run through a large trad of barren and uninhabited land, empties itfelf. Upon the 1 1 th of yufie the river Skapta was totally dried up in lefs than twenty-four hours, and the day following a prodigious ftrcam of liquid • In the fame fummer the fun had a fimilar appearance in Gre.t Bri>ai», and the fkme obJcunty of air reigned in molt parts of our ifland. and. CCCXXHi ■t 'ikm ■1 cccxxir ERUPTION IN and red hot lava, which the firc-fpout had difcharged, ran down the channel of it, which is very deep, having large rocks and high banks on each fide, the whole length of its courfe. This ftream of lava not only filled the deep channel above ment;o»;'.' 1, biv overflowing the banks of it, fpread itfelf over the whole valley, co /ering all the low grounds in its neighborhood j und not having any fufficient outlet to empty itfelf by, it rofe to a very great height, and over-ran all the neighboring country, in- finuating itfelf between the hills, and covering fome of the lower ones. The hills here are not continued in a long ■ hain or Teries, hut are fepa- rated fronfi one another, and detached ; and between them run little rivu- lets or brooks : fo that, befides filling up the whole of the valley in which the rivr Skapta ran, the fiery ftream fpread itfelf for a confiderable dif- tance on each fide, getting vent between the above-mentioned hills, and laying all the neighboring country under fire. The fiery lake, getting frefh and greater fupplies from the fpouts, now ran up the courfe of the river, and overflowed all the lower grounds above ; and, as it proceeded upwards, it dri cl the river, until tlie fl:ream was Hopped againil the fide of the hill from whence the river takes its rife. The lava now rofe to a prodigious height, and the fiery lake overflowed all the village of Buland ; the church, houfes, and every thing in its way being confumed : thofe who knew the fituation of this village, upon what high ground it Hands, would be afl:oniflied to think that it could have been overflowed. Two other farm-houfes in the fame parifli of Bulandy at about a mile and an half from the village, northward, were likewife dcllroyed, and three lives loft in both of them. The whole of this parifh, which was highly culti- vated land, is now totally demolifhed. The fiery lake ftill increafing, and fpreading itfelf out in length and breadth, overflowed all the country for fix miles in width. When all this trad of land was converted into a fea of fire, the lava ftretched itfelf towards the fouth i and getting vent through the channel of the river Skapta, down which it ruflied with great impetuofity (being confined within the narrow compafs between the high banks before defcribed, for about a mile) it came in^o a more open place, where E L N D. cccxxr where It poured itfelf forth in prodigious torrents with amazing velocity and force } fpreading itfelf now towards the fouth, tearing up the earth, and carrying along with it on its furface flaming woods, and whatfoever it met with : in its courfe it laid wade another large diftrid of land. The ground wherever it came was broke and cracked, and emitted large quant ties of fmoke and fleam long before the fire reached it j fo great was the heat : and every thing near the edge of the fiery lake was either burnt up, or reduced to a fluid ftate. In this fituation matters remained from the 12th of June till the 13th of Auguft. The fiery lake now no longer fpread itfelf, but remained burning neverthelels i and when any part of the furface by cooling was crufted over, tiie fire from below broke the crufl:, which tumbling amongft the melted fubftance, was rolled and tofled about with a prodigious noife and crackling j and in many parts of its furface fmall fpouts, or at left ebullitions, were formed, which continued for fome length of time. The river Skapta, that we have talked fo much about, is fituated n the north and north- weft fides of the province of Sidu; it takes its rife in the north-eaft, and running firft weftward, it turns to the fouth, and fills into the fea in a fouth-eaft diredion. The confined part of its channel, that we have before made mention of, is an uninterrupted ftretch of about four miles in length j being in ibme places aoo fathoms deep (as in the neigh- borhood of *9tt77ri '«»/), where the river cuts through a hill), in others 150 or 100 i and in fome parts 100, in others 50, 40, and 30 fathoms broad. Along the whole of this part ot its courfe the river is very rapid, thoug 1 there are no confiderable catarafts or falls abc /e two feet high. Thei. are feveral other fuch confined channels as thi n other parts of Icelandy but this is the greateft and nioft confiderable in all its dimenfions. This channel was filled to the brink, and from thence the lava fpread itfelf over the village 61- ptardal, confumed the houfes and every thing in its way, and deployed the wc ds and meadow lands : this place is fituated on the eaft of the river, upon a rifing ground. The ftream then went forw rds to the fouth, by the village marked A, which is at the fouth end of the U u narroweft j>l OCCXXVI ERUPTION IN .narroweft part of the channel, and ftretched itfelf between two hills to the caft. The whole of this village, with all its meadow and wood lands, was alfo totally dcftroyed. Upon the 12th oi June, the lava having run through the narrow part of the channel, and obtained an outlet, it ftretched itfelf out in breadth towards the fouth-weft, as far as the eaft fide of the hills in the province Skaptartunga-, and alfo to the weft fide q( Sidu, and the fouth-weft o( Medalland towards the eaft. Juft as the lava begun to overflow this flat country, and had got out of the channel of the river, the perpendicular height of its edge was 70 fathoms. Proceeding now fouthwards, the lava deftroyed the church and town of Skal, and all the neighboring grounds: in this place a prodigious noife was heard when the lava overfpread the low lands, and noifcs like thunder have continued ever fincc, till the 12th o( Auguft. It then came to the village of 6'winadalur, which lies in a fouth-weft diredion from Skal; and having with a corner deftroyed that, it was ftretched out farther to the weft, and over- ran the village of Hvammar, which ftands on a pretty high rifing ground on the weft fide of the river ; but before the fire had reached thefe two villages, they were both overflowed with the water that had been turned out of its courfe by the lava damming up the river when it firft came into the • channel. Proceeding forward, the lava overflowed the village NeZy and all the grounds belonging to it : from thence it came to Fillungary and turning more fouthwardly, came near to the village Leidvolla; a little to the north of which, after having deftroyed a great quantity of grafs land and wood, it entered into the channel of the great river Kudajliof -, and kept a fouth courfe along the eaft fide of it till it came down near to the village of Hraun, where this branch ftopped. A little above tiie place where this arm went into the channel of the river Kudafliot, a corner of the lava ftretched itfelf out to the fouth-eaft, and came to a place called Eyjlribrun, eaft o( Hraufj, From Skal, which we mentioned juft now, the lava taking an eaft ward diredion, ran by the fide of a hill called Holtjidll, and deftroyed the village Holts, which ftood upon a fine level ground, and was furrounded with very rich corn and pafture land. Proceeding eaft- ward. E I. N D. cccxxvir ward, it came to a village called Heidi and deftroying a quantity of meadow land and wood belonging to that village, it went on down the river Skapta, between the two hills Heilderftapa and DalUrJiapa, which lie on each fide of the river, and deftroyed the villages Hunkabakh, Holmur, and Dalbean and proceeded on caftward towards the village Nyibear, within a hundred yards of which it flopped. In this courfe there is a very* great cataraft of the river Skapta, about 14 fathoms high, where the lava falling down, was thrown about, together with the ftones which it tore up, to a very confidcrable diftancc. From Dalbear the ftream of lava went fouthward, over that large tradl of land called Ilrmms-melary quite down to Efriftem-myri, the edge of it to the eaft pafTing by Lutandahals, Lutandafit, and Rofa. In paffing over diis broad traft of land the fire did confidcrable damage, for the whole was good and rich meadow and pafture land. The ftream of lava went within 30 fathoms o^ Efrijleins-myri, on the weft j and falling into the channel of the river Steins-myrifliot, which is among the larger ones, it filled the whole valley between Efrijieins-myri and Svdri^ Jiews-myri, going un in an eaftward direftion: thefe two villages' are totally deftroyed, although the edge of fire only approached within 100 fathoms of them. The main body of the lava from this place went in a fouth-weft diredlion, and came to the village Hnaujer-, which, although it was not deftroyed by the fire, yet was overflowed by the water of the two rivers Stem-myriflidt and Fegdaquiji being dammed up. Here the lava flopped on the fouth; and its edge goes all the way from Eyftribrun before mentioned, north of Stadarholt, to Strandarholt. In this neighborhood the lava deftroyed five villages; namely, Holmafel, with its church; Botnoy Holma, Efrifliota, and Sydrifiota ; befides a great quantity of corn and meadow lands, with woods, and other property belonging to the villages fouthward. , The fpouts ftill continuing to fend forth immenfe quantities of frelli lava, and all the pafTage to the fouth or low lands being Unit up, the lava fpread itfelf to the north and north-eaft, over a traft of land eight miles long and fix broad. All this place is barren and uninhabited, fo that no U u 2 obfervations Ii CCCXXVIII ERUPTION I N obfervations were made how the fery ftream proceeded j all we know is, that it dried up the rivers Tuna and Axafyrdi. The lava, on account of the high hills on the eaft of Hwerfisfiioty could proceed no farther in an eaftward diredion j for thefe hills form a continued chain for three miles in length, running in a direftion north and fouth. There was then no other outlet for the lava than the channel of the river Hwerfisfliot : this branch broke out from the main body about a quarter of a mile north of Ttridalur and Eyftridalu:, two villages fituated oppofite to each other, on each fide of the river: the lava running between thefe two villages, followed the courfe of the river, and paffed between two others, Therna and Selialandi about a mile lower down ; com.ing tlien into an open and level ground, it fpre-^d itfclf out, and formed a fmall lake of fire, about two miles long and one broad j lying in a direftion a little weftwardly from the fouth. The only damage done by this branch was the deftruc- tion of the corn and grafs land, and fome wood -, no villages having fuffer- ed. Upon the i6th o^ Auguft this branch flopped. It appears then, from the whole, that the utmoft extent of the ground covered with lava, and making the appearance of a fiery lake, was fifteen miles long, and feven broad, in its utmoft extent. The edge of it, reckon- ing all that part fouth o( Bulandy with ^11 its inequalities on che fouth fide, is upwards of thirty miles longj what it may be on the north is not known, as nobody chufes to venture himfelf near that part as yet. The perpendi- cular height of the edge is from 1 6 to 20 fathoms, fo that wherever it came it covered every village it met with, as well as feveral hills; and thofe which, on account of their great height, it did not cover, were melted down by it, fo that the whole furface was in a fluid ftate, and formed a lake of fire, in appearance like red hot melted metal. The wliolc number of villages totally deftroyed are ao or 21, either by the fire or the water overflowing them. About 34 are very materially hurt, having their lands and woods burnt up ; but moft of them may be furnilhed with frefh ground being taken up in their refpeftive neigh- borhoods. I N D. cecxxiac borhoods. Befides villages, there are fcven parifh churches and two chapels deftroyed. In the whole there were 220 livres loft by the fire, and 21 by water. The rivers that were dried up are twelve; namely, Tuna, Axafardi-HwerfisfliSt, Skapta, Steins -myrifliSt, Landa, Melcfuijly G.een-laekur, ^mgu-laeker, Fedaquijl, Kararvikarjh-urdur, and ^Hraunfd. Befides this immenfe fire, there happened two other circumftances that are equally wonderful. Two ifiands have been thrown up. One of thefe was thrown up in the month o{ February 1784, where there was before upwards of ICO fathoms deep water; it lies about fixteen miles from the land, fouth-weft from Reikianefe in Iceland, and about eight miles fiom the clufter of ifiands called Gierfugla. By the laft accounts this ifland con- tinued burning with great vehemence, and fenc forth prodigious quantities of pumice, fand, and other matters, fimilar to other burning mountains. The ifland is fomewhat above half a mile in circumference, and full as high as the mountain Efian in Iceland. The other ifland is at a greater diftance from Iceland to the north-wefl:, lying between Iceland ^nd'creen- land: it has burnt without intermifllon, day and night, for a confi- derable time, like the other; is very high, and larger in circum- ference than the other. — The account of this ifland is taken from the report of certain mafters of fliips, but is not fo well authenticated as the former. We have slfo fome very indubitable accounts, partly by the relation of failors, and partly by letters from Trondheim in Norway, that before the iire broke out in Iceland, there was a very remarkable eruption in the un- inhabited parts of Greenland; and that in the northern parts of Iceland, oppofite to Greenland, the fire was vifible a vaft while. Thefe accounts were ftrengthened by a letter from Iceland, bearing date th« 21ft of September; which fays, that when the wind was north there fell a great quantity of aflies, pumice, and brimftone, upon the north and weft coafts oi Iceland; and that this continued for the whole fummcr, whenever the wind was in that quarter; and that the air was always very ftrongly im- pregnated with a brimftone fmell, and thick fmoke. But ■.ySiWBBS! Pk ^X) W 00 1 -s (0 1 d 1 o CO m a, O S c. w> o o o 4J . OO •yi -g ON ^ OO u jj . OO 1 1- o CO 5 ON *% «• :. ^ 2 ^ f^ r^ en 1 OO d ON u i * 4-2 «4. I N D E X TO THE INTRODUCTION. A. c o C Th ^ ^ t t-- flJ ^ ^ vo H*^ ylLAND iAes — '^ Alafchka promontory Aleutian ifles — — page — xc — CCXLVIII CCXXI Alps of Great Brituin, their courfe xxi v Sibiria — — CLVUi America — — ccxxvi jiltaic chain or mountains, its courfe c l i x America, from whence peopled — c c L i x ■Antiquities, Britijh, in the Orknies and Sc^etland — xLii in Scandinavia — XLViii Roman, in Schetland XL i v Roman, in Schonen, in SiveJen — — Lxxxiv jfrchangel, its origin — — c l n ^r a — c cxx ix Eajl Cape — . — — CLXXXIX Edgecombe Mount — ccxxxix, CCXL jEitcjfiipa, the place of northern fuicide — — cix Egede, Mr. the Araic apoftle ccLXXxiii Elias Cape — — .— CCXL Eniiigia — -^ __ EJkimaux, of the weftern fide of America — ecu, ccLiii maffacre of, near ( . op- per River — - — ccLXXVii of Greenland — c c L XXXVt of Labrador — — ccc xciv F. Fabricius, Mr. Otto, a moft able Zoologift — Farn Ijlands — _ Fennones — — _ Feroe IJJes, their number ^— when difcovered — • Fifli of Iceland, moftly common to Greenland — of Schetland — -«. of the Baltic, very few — of Lapland and Sweden — of Nornvay — of Spitzbergen — — of the Sibirian rivers — of the Frozen Sea — — of Kamt/chatia -— >— cctxxxvi XVIU L XXX VI II LIU LVII LXXVII XXXVIU LXXXV LXXXIX CXXIII CXLIV CLXXIV ib. cciv Fifti I N r i o D u c r r o N; ¥i&i cf Grten/aptt/ ~- pa^e cc UuJjons Bay — __ FL, rough Head — __ fUndtrs, anticnt ftate of Fleets, vail, of the northern i tions — fltvoLacui, now loft in the Z/<, d$r Aee — -m, FoHtts de, his pafTage Foffils of Greenland Fcfta, a German deity, the fame with Fefta Fowling. def| .• method in Ft — _ in Schetland — France, once joined to Britain — . correfpondency of its coaft and cliffs — __ its number of quadruped-; and birds — Froft-fmoke, its danger Fruits or Nuts of the IVrft Indies, howwzfttdto Nortvay ,&cc. of Siveden — __ of Lapland ^ Fuea de, his paflage — > ~. LXXXVIM CCXCVll XIV LXXVIII XCVllI X \' ! I CCXCl — txxxi LI V XXXIX II, IV III VI LXXXV cin CXVIIl CXII CCX "XIV G. Gael-hamhes — _ German oea — _ . Germanicus doubles the Cimhrium Promontorium —. —, Gilbert, Sir Humphry, his gal- lantry and piety — — Gtuberman, illes off Iceland, fud- denly abforbed — Greenland — Old — -_ when firft difcovered its anticnt colony of Norivegifl-: — . ,^^ when again colonized cclxxxi i i Gulph ftream — __ cm Civojdi'w, a difcoverer oiJmerica c c l v H Hearne, Mr. his amazing journey to the Icy Sea — — CCLXXVIl Hecla, number of its eruptions lxii CCLXXX XXVI LXXXIV CCCIII r.xvii CLXXIX CCLXXXI ib. ib. Hecla the northern hell Hermogenes, Cape St. _ Herrings in the Baltic — . in KamtJ'chat^a —, Her'vor, her magical invocation, a runic poem — HilU'vionci, a people of Siveden Hippopoda, what, proba' ly Holibut IJle __ _ Htlland, its antient ftate — Hoy, hill of, in Orkney, its hi ^ht Hud/on'i Bay .. ^__ exceffive cold Huers, or jets d'caux of kalding water in Iceland — Hyperborean, or northern ocean Hyperboreans, a people defcribed by P. Mela -- _ I. page txn I CXLVIII I.XXXVI CGXI L CV ib. CCXLIX i.xxvni XXXIV CCXCIV ccxcvi LXV LXI CLVII Jakutt&k, , .tenfe cold there — y 'mal. Cape — Icet 'gt (or JokkuUr) o{ Iceland of Spitzbergen — Iceland, its difcovery l almoft a mais of lava — its plants — __ dreadful eruptions in — enflaved ftate — antient commerce from Britain — -_ quadrupeds and birds Icy Cape — Icy Sea — — . _ journey to — — attempts to pafs it — very fliallow — its time of freezing "Jenefei river — «« //, what — _ India trades to Sibiria — JouratxJiaine coaft — — Irtifch river — Iflands nswly raifed out of the fea — _ fwallowed up in the fea of ice, then amazing ex- tent — — Jutland '— mm^ mm. CLXXIII CLX LXJ CXXXVIl Vll, LVIU LIX LXI LXII Lxvni LXXV LXX CCLV ik CCLXXVIl CLXIX CCLVI CLXIX CLX CLXVIll CLIV CLXVIH CLXI LXVt LXVll CXXXVI LXXXII K. Kadjak ^^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 Jfi^ IIIIIM I.I 1.25 1^ i^ Hi 2A 12.2 2.0 1.8 U IIIIII.6 1 ^ #// ^1 u ■'I V <^ w m //, 7 c'm.. ""m 0% * i^ %^ O^; /A Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 I INDEX TOT HE K. KaJjaintt — — — Kamt/chatka — i — . — fevere climate — • plants of — — marine plants — • religion — — former beaiUy hofpi- tality — — Kandinos Ifland — — - Kara Sea — . — — Kattegatte, the — — Kaye'sme — — . Kivike in Stueden, Roman anti- quities there — — Koriacj, people — ^^ Ko— ._ Schalotfkoi Cape, its latitude er- roneous -- clxxxvii probably never « I , doubled — ttyvj Schalourcf, his difcoveries — „ . * Schetland Ifles — _ "** Schoumagin Ifles _ __ ex '^'^^^ 0/7 • ,.r — clxxxvii I HevenStJlers, mNor'way,raoM\n. gular mountains Sevo Mons, Seveberg * 5/^/n«,itsdifcovery - - clsxv/u* mtenfecoldof ,z SOLANDER, Doftor _ __ cvv.v' Spitsbergen - _ /^^^J^^ inftances of people wintering there Ruffians winter there plants of — , Springs, hot, in Iceland — in Kamtfchatka — Q»«- 1.. '^^ Greenland — ccLXXxii Streights of Dover, aftefted by the ocean <— _ between the gulph of Finland and fFhite Sea, now clofed, but ftill to be traced — Snuaiioi-nofs in Sibiria m^ CXLIII CXLVII CXLI LXV CXCII II, III XCVI CLXX in the map u. to the weft of Cape Taimura, ia Yy Sivjatoi'tio/f I INDEX, &c. Siiyatoi-no/iin Lapmark — page cti Sweet Plant, the, its great ufe in Kamt/chatka — — cxcvii Sweden, feafons in — — cxx T. Table of Quadnipeds — — cclxix Taimura, Cepe — — olxvii,clxx Tartarian idol, figure of,illuilrat- ing a paffage in ifcrc^/o/w — . cclx Thaddeusnofi — — cxci Thomp/on, the poet, his real repre- fentation of .i!/r^fl only — cclvii Torg-hatten, a fmgular pierced rock — — — cvu Tomahawk, a moil tremendous weapon — — Transfigurationis, St. Cape of — Trees of ArSic Europe — — Tfchut/chi, laft of Ajiatic people Turbot fiihery — — Turn-again River — — CCXXXIX CLXX QXIV CLXX LXXIX CCXLVM Valero, Marquis de, mifrepre- fented — — — Vegetables, numbers in Iceland of Spitzbergen — - of Finmark — — comparative lift of thofe of northern Europe — — of Sibiria — — 1 of Kamt/chatka — of the weftern ftde of America — — CCXXIII LXI CXLI CXII CXLII CLXXIX cxciv CCXLI Vegetables of B E h r i h c *s ^« page c cxx Urallian chain or mountains, its courfe — — CLVii Vulcanoes of Iceland — — lxi chain of in South and North America — ccxxvi of the Kuril IJlit — c ex vi 1 1 in Kamt/chatka — cxci in the Ifles of A/ia to North America — ccxx w. iST^i/rM/f;, where abundant — cclvii Wardhuys, the raoft northern fortrefs cxl ix Waygat ftreights, Spitzbergen — cxxxii the Nova Zeml- jean — — CLX Weljb, their clame to the difco- very of America — — cclxiii Wenern Lake — — c XX Werchoturian mountains. See Urallian. Weftra, graves of in Schetland, . their contents — — fi^etter Lake defcnhed — — Whirlpool between Caithne/i and the Orknies — — . of Suderoc, near the Feroe Ifles — — Whirlwinds and ftorms in South Carolina — — _^ White Sea, early difcovered — Willoughby, Sir Hugh, his difcoveries, and fad fate — ct William's, Prince, Sound — ■— ccxLiit xlvii CIX XXXI LVI CCXXXI CXXVIII Y. J fl/'^ river, its courfe — — clviii Termac, a CoJJac, firft conquers part of Sibiria for the Ruffians CLXXVili Z. Zeni, two brothers, early travel- lers to Gr««/fl«