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T^ to Tr PC of fil Oi bi th sii ot fir sii or Th sh Til wl Ml dil en be rid ret mi This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked belov.«/ Ce document est filmi au taux de reduction indiqu HIGH NORTHERN LATITUDES, LATELY RECEIVED FROM HOLLAND. LONDON, Printed for C. H E T D I N G E R, m the Stran.->. M DCC LXXV. C 93 ] I Have mentioned in the preceding fheets, (*) that I expeded fome additional Inftances of Dutch fhips, which had been in high Northern latitudes ; and which, though I delayed the publication for fome weeks, did not arrive time enough to appear with the others. I have however fmce received them from Pro- feffor Allamand of Leyden, F. R, S. by means of Mr. Valltravers, F. R. S. &c. &c. and take the earlieft opportunity to lay them before the public as a valuable addition to the former papers. DAINES BARRINGTON. (*) Page 52. In the additional papers from Hull. O2 203729 f 94 ] Mi> JSf^>P:f,p,.^ j5^ i^^ kjrf i^^ ^;* X ^s^^5^ X '^^F ^^ k.jt/ 1^ I LETTER 4 I (■'■ FROM Mr. J. W A L I G, To Mefli-s. Nic. and Jacob Van Staphorft. (C (( (C c cc C( (( cc cc cc «C' Helder, Jan. 3, 1775. IN anfwer to your letter of the 22d of December, concern- ing ihe queftion, whether we have been nearer to the Pole than 80 dcg. and a half, I mnft inform you, that we have been often to 8 1 deg. near the Seven Iflands, to the North- ward of the North-Eaft land, and fome have been in 82 deg. but then not clear from Ice, in which they drove about. I never heard of any difcoveries made there, as they have always been firtiers, who driving with the ice, to the North- ward, leave that diredion upon get ing room; and when now and then the fea has been free from ice, that has happened commonly in the months of June and July. In 1763. I fpoke wiih a Scotch Captain in Greenland, who told me he had O 3 « been [ <)<> ] *' been to 83 dcg. that the Tea was then free from Ice, but that *' he had made no difcoveries, vviihont mentioning any more par- ** ticulars, for we afk after nothing but \A'hale<5. Wlun I Ipukc id " him it was in July, and then we eoiild get no further North, *' than79 d. 30 m. for the ice. In fliort, we can (eldom proc«.ed " much higher than 80 deg. and a half, but almort always to that " latitude, for it feems that the eonjuncHion of the currents, often " faftens the ice there. I fifhed laft year, f cm 80 deg. 25 min. *' to 80 deg. 35 min. according to the land we made after- " wards. " But in the year 1707, Captain Cornells Giliis, having gone ** without any ice far to the Northward of Si deg. (iiiled to the " North of the Seven Illands, proceeded from thence Eaf), jnd " afterwards S. E. remaining to the Eaft of the North Eafl: *' land, when coming again to latitude 80 deg. he difcovcred " about 25 miles (j Eaft, from the country to the N. E. very high ** lands, on which, as far as we know, no body has ever been. " As to the feafon when the Spitzbergen feas may beexpedled " to be free from ice, I believe, according to my obfervations " that the moft open fea to the Northward, generally hap- " pens in the month of September, but then the nights begin, *' and make the navigation dangerous. " I am, &c. « JOHN WALIG." (a) Fifteen to a degree, at the Equator. A SHORT \ • ^v- [ 97 ] A SHORT ACCOUNT OF NAVIGATORS, W^ H O HAVE REACHED HIGH NORTHERN L AT ITUDES. (*) I went to AmOerJam the 26th of March, being the mon: proper time to make the delired inquiries, and to obtain in- formation from all the commanders that were to depart this year to Greenland ; for then you meet, iix, eight, and more to- gether, in houfes were they enlift their men. I am however forry to mention, that but few of thcfe commanders, keep journals, when they are near or in the ice; but notwithftanding this, the accounts they give, carry with them fuch an air of truth, from being confirmed by minute circumftances, and cor- robborated by fo many witnefTcs, that thefe relations (I verily believe) may be depended upon as well as fome journals. I particularly applied myfelf, however, to thofe to whom a great number of voyages had given experience, and (contrary to my expedations) met with men of candour and penetration. I thought it proper, however, to take the following extra'cl of a jour- nal, it fliewing the common form in which fome of them are kept. Tran/lation (*) This account was drawn up by Captain William May, in the fcrvicc of the States, at the clclire of Profcflbr Allamand of Leyden. Seep. 94. i .E 9^ J Tranllation of part of a J )urnal held on Board tlie Vrow Maria, Commander Martin Breet. N. B. The fun's altitudes were taken v/Ith an odlant, and 12 min* allowed for the fun's feml-diamcter, rcfra<$lion, and dip of the horizon; the longitude fiom TencrifT, the miles 15 to a de* grec at the ccjuator, the bearings with a compafs unredlified. The 22d of April 1771, failed from the Texel for Greenland. Sth of May, latitude according to the run, 70 deg. 33 min. longitude 19 deg. 22 min. faw the firftice. 13 ditto, latitude 74 deg. 50 min. longitude 24 deg. 35 min. met with a border of ice. 14 ditto, latitude by obfervation. 75 deg. 44 min. longitude 26 deg. 13 min. came agafnft fome ice. 15 ditto, latitude 76 deg. 13 min. longitude 25 deg. 40 min» faw Spitzbergen, the South Cape bore E. N. E. 14 miles. N. B. Drove about in the ice, made faft to a field. 25 ditto in the morning, faw the North Foreland, N. E. by E. latitude 79 deg. 1 2 min. longitude 20 deg. 40 min. 26 ditto, latitude byobferv. 79 deg. 10 min. 2.7 ditto, againft the ice. 28 ditto, paft through fome ice. 29 ditto, got faft in the ice, faw two fhlps failing pretty freely in the E. N. E. N. B. in the ice till 7th of June got more room ; beat to the Southward and made faft to a field, faw land in the E. N, E. diftance 14 or 15 miles, fuppofed it the Quade-hoek, latitude by obferv. 79 deg. 58 min. made faft to the ice till the II ditto. [ 99 1 11 June at noon, a violent ftorm, wind S. W. latitude by obferv. 80 deg. 19 min. In the night drove towards thccoafis, for it blew too hard to carry fail. 1 2 ditto, in the morning laid faft In the ice, the iVorm continued, and the fhip fo much preft by the ice, that we were obliged to unhang the rudder. 13 ditto, hard prert by the ice, latitude by obferv. So. deg. 29 min. Remained prell by the ice till the 1 8 ditto, latitude by obierv So deg. 50 min. the flilp not moveable. 19 ditto, latitude by obferv. 80 deg. 57 min. the ice in great motion. 20 ditto, fail: in the ice again, latitude by obferv. So deg. 58 min. calm till the 24 ditto, begun to blow a ftorm; got fome room in the ice. 25 ditto, having got more room we advanced. 26 ditto, locked up again. 27 ditto, faw the land, namely, the Dorre Hoek, S. by E. half E. and the Vlakke Hoek, E. S. E. lay befet till the 29 ditto, latitude by obferv. 80 deg. 1 6 min. 30 ditto, wind N. E. 1 ft of July, faw water in the W. S. W. which we had not feen for many days. In the afternoon got more room. 2 ditto, worked our way through as much ice as we could, wind E. N. E. towards the evening, N. made faft to a field. 3 ditto at noon, faw the land, being the Robbe-Bay, bearing S. W. by W. about one mile. ! have left out many little circumftanccs refpedling the wind tides, &c. as thinking the above fuflicient for afcenaining the P latitude?, ,; r 100 ] laiiriKieP, and to Hiew the mcihod In which many of the Grccn- lanvl maflcrs keep their journals. That year fee ms to have been favourabK:, for i^ettin^ more to the north, for noiwithftandino: Mr. Brect mot with fo much ice, from the laHtnde of 79 dcQ: 30 min. to that of So deg. 5S min. Captain Jan Klaas Caftri- Gum, in the fliip the Jonge Jan, at that very time of the year, and nearly in the fame longitude, reached 81 deg. 40 min. by the medium of feveral obfervations with forellafFs, where he fiflied with fuccefs in company with Witje Jelles, who failed from Hamburg, and found but little Ice. There were iikewife two Engliili fliips, who failed fo far to the north, that Caftricum loft fight of them, from the maft head, which two fliips returned in fomething more than two days, and the Captains came on board of Callricum, {c) and afllired him thai they had been to upwards of 83 degrees, and could have gone much further, as they had no obftru(5lions from ice, but finding no whales, they returned. I fpoke at the fame time with other commanders, who having been in fight of thofe Ihips confirmed Caftricum's account. Six of the oldeft makers affured me, (amongfl whom, were John Walig, Klaas Keuken, and J. Klaas Caftricum) that they had known from 1730, to 1742, an old Engllfh com- mander, whofe name was Krickrack, {d) it was his cuftom be- tween the fifheries, If not obftrndled by ice, to fail to the north- ward, and fome of them aflfirm, that when they have been at an anchor in Brandewyns-Bay, he once ftayed away ten, and at another (f) Capt. Caftricum neithei afked their names, nor thofe of their fhips; all that he knew, was, he laid if he remembered right, they failed from England. (d) From 1730, to 1740, moft of the mafters ofEnglilh fhips, fitttcdout fot the Greenland trade, were Dutchmen. ■f 1 'S [ lOI ] ••mother timo twenty dnys, before his remm, and thtv are very Aire that he reported, (and they have reafons to believe him) ih:it he had been two degrees, and. even more, north of the (even lilands; all I couH ftirther iearn of this iWr. Krlckrark was, that m 1740, he was in the only (liip fcnt from En.d rd • that for feveral voyages he had the lame Alp's companv; that ■" or about ,742, he h d tlie command of a tranfport, on bo-rd ofwh.ch he loft his life, by a rnudetball, ih.v were certain that he kept journals, ot,t of which they think, much lidit misht be obtained. The greateft part of the Dutch commanders live at the Helder- Mr. VValig and others affiired me, that the moft Northern voyage, then ever heard of, and on which they could ,vith cer- tainty depend was that of Jacob Schol, in ,700, who had been io far North, that on his return he failed with a frelh gale of wind due South, 48 hours, and then fell in wrh the Seven Iflands he eonfequently had been (reckoning that run at only four Dutch miles an hour, which they thottght too little) in upwards of 84 deg. N. latitude. As Mr. Schol was an inhabitant of the Helder, they told me that they would flrive to procure me his papers from his hei,s; and if I miftake not, they faid that thev had aaually feen thofe papers, !„ their younger days. Fincling that Mr. Van Keulen had put down the land difcovered by Cap.a,n Gilhs mentioned in Mr. Walig's letter, I went .0 him, to fee on what foundation he had placed that difcovery, but as thofe papers could not be found, I applied ,0 Mr. Walig, who old me, that Mr. Cornelius Gillis, had been an inhabitant of the Helder, that V\ ahg, together with Mr. Keuken, Mr. Bafke, and others, fince dead, had often examined GlUis's papers, maps, &c. and : t 1^2 ] and found that he was an enterpriiing man, and very accurate in his remarks and charts; that his grand Ton had his journals and other papers in his poflelHon ; and his grand daughter, who was married to an ollker of Walig's fhip, (who had formerly been a commander) had his charts, fome of which that oflicer generally took with him, in order to corre(ft them. I begged hard to have them, if only for twenty four hours, and next morning, Mr. Walig put into my hands, the original draughts of all the difcoveries Mr. Gillis ever made, with regard to Spitzbergen, excepting fome particular drawings of Bays and views of land, with permiffion to keep them in my pofleirion, till Mr. Walig's return from Greenland; copies of which are here annexed, (e) and Mr. Walig promifed to procure me, if pofTible, all the papers of that old commander bv^ fore he left the Texel, which I hope to receive in a few days, and fhall not fail in fending ove^ every thing I find material. Alking what particulars Mr. Walig and others remembered outof thofe papers, they gave the following iliort account. 1 hat Air. Gillis palFed more than a degree to the Northward of the Seven lllands, without any hinderance from ice, that he proceeded Eaft, for fome leagues with an open lea, then bent his courfe S. E. and afterwards South, faw in the Jatitude of 80 deg. to the Eaft, very high land, run through the Eaft coaft of the North Eaft land, and entered the Waygats Strcights, (.*) Thefc were copies of the draughts of the different coafts of Spitzbergen, of which Captain Gillis hath taken accurate furveys. Mr. HcycHnger, tb. puhlillier of thcle flieets, intends to make ufe of them for a new and accurate map of Spitzbergen, for which he has collefted many valuable materials, and w hich he propofcs to add to a new edition of his tranllation of ProfefTor Le Hoy's Narrative of to rRufllan failors, who lived fix years and three montli*. o^ the delart Ifland of Eaft-Spitzbergcn, -kc. •n r 1^3 ] Strelghts, came to an anclur in Lamber-Eay, find took two Whafes, and from thence proceeded to the Texel. Mr. Balke gave alfo an account of his uncle's, having, in company with three fhlp<5, entered Wa}'gats from the North, and advanced as far as the fame Bay, but found too much ice to get through, which the other three, being young commanders, made a trial of. The North paflage however on their return being ihut, and it being the beginning of September, they made preparation to leave their (hips, in order to get over land to Smeerenberg, but the ice luckily giving way, they got out to the Northward. Mr. Balke, who is a curious man, promifed me amongft other things, his thermometrical obfervations, which, by the converfation I had about them, I have reafon to think will be accurate. After having pafTed fix morning", with a great number of our commanders quartered in different houfes, I find that fcarcely a year had paf>, but fome of them have been to 8i deg. North, but rarely found the feas free from ice. This is all the information, I have been able to procure during my lliort f^ay at AmAerdam, which I would have pro- longed, if a call to the Hague had not prevented me; 1 can only add, that waiting upon Mr. Boreel, that gentleman promifed, that he would order a fearch to be made for the journals of thofe fhips which were formerly employed in proted^ing our Greenland fi<"hcrics- I mufl however not forget to mention a particular that Mr. Van Keulen acquainted me with. He had at his houfe, ia{\ fum- mer, a converfation with a RufTian, who had paft the winter lafl: year in Spitzbergen, and give him the following account. That being in the utmofi: diflrcfs, for want of eatables on the North ^m [ 104 ] >ro;i!i Coail, he mado a tiial to get wlih his boat, towards the miJJlc of ihj llianc!, l:y n>j:i;ij of the Bay of Wydc-Bay in UiJlis's map, into wh'th he proceeded, till, to his great fiirprile, he foil into VVybe JanC:.'s Bay, an^l fo came out to the South of Spitzliergen ; but he had taken no notice of the dc'p»hs of water. Being cjuellioned as to that particular, he faid he was very furc that he did ncK pals through the Waygafs. In all my converfations, with our Greenland commanders, I never failed to afk which courfj they would take, to reach h'gh Northern latitudes, the refiilt v\as, that they would never feek it to the VVeftward of Spitzbergen, but run out to die North, from the Weft coaft of Nova Zembia; Mr. Bafke's reafons and thofe of other commanders were. I ft. That all the Weftern coafts of the Northern countries, were for the moft part, free from ice, occafioned from the winds and tides chiefly coming from the Eaft, which experience proves. 2d. That the ice comes originally from the Tartarian rivers, for that the fea never freezes, but where it is calm, and at the fame time a great quantity of fnovv falls. 3d. That near the feven iftands, navigators often meet with a great N. E. fwell, which proves that at fuch time, the fea, to a conliderable diftance to the N. E. is not locked up by the ice. ' 4th. That the drift wood, could not come to the Northward of Spltzbergen, in cafe the feas between the North of Alia, and that iftand, were frozen, whereas a great quantity of that wood, is drove on the North coaft of Iceland, which is a de- monftration, that the currents come from the N. E. 5^h. I ■3" i m ards tl)c -Bay ill South of f water. ;iry furc iders, I ch \v'A\ o feek it b, from d ihofe ?, were winds erience rivers, 1, and !t with le feaj up by ard of I, and ivood, a de- [ 105 ] 5ih. That in feme of the trees, the marks of the axe were very plain, and the colour of the wood fo frelh, that they certain- ly had not been fix nio.nhs in the fea. 6th. That fume whole trees, appeared with buds thereon, which they think could not have remained fo frcfh, if the trec>- had been a v-ar in the fait water. 7th. Th.t the Eaft of Greenland, vvas now difcovered to the lati- tude ui 79 deg. and a half, that it probably extended further to tbe N. N. E. which they look upon to be the caufe of the ftoppaj^e of ice, between that coaft and Spitzbergen, and the reafon why they never find a N. W. or Northerly fwell. Sth. That generally all fliips, which had once got to the North as far as 82 deg. met with litde or no obftruaions from the ice, and more arguments to the fame purpofe. There were fome however, would rather make the trial between Spitzbergen and the land, difcovered by Mr. Gillis. N. B. They knew nothing of the papers read before the Royal Society. 5ih. SIR, [ ^o6 ] i S I R, PRofeflbr Allamand being very defirous that the inclofed, might be fent to you as foon as po/Iihlc, has obh'ged me to draw lip with hufte, the above account of the informations I re- ceived at Amllcrdam. In reading it over, and comparing it with my notes, 1 find no fault as to the fads related, whatever there may be in the manner in which it is drawn up ; in cafe the whole, or any part of it fliould be thought worth publifhing, I hope vou will be fo good as to have it corredled I*). I could have made it more circumftantial, as my notes are very full, in particular with regard to the reafuns our Com- manders gave, for not making the trial to the Weft of Spitz- bergen, &c. I am informed that Mr. De Bougainville intends to go by the way of Nova Zembla. I am w^ith profound refpetf^, S I R, Your moft obedient humble fervant, Leydcn, Aprr! i ith, 1775. WILLIAM MAY. •| To Rod. Vallt ravers, Efq; &c. &c. (^*) This hath been done in fome trifling particulars, relative merely to the ftlle, as Capt. May is not a native of England. Thns C J07 ] PS^J«l^±S*S-^±S^±5^iEft5^S#Si>i^lS*5i:S iclofed, f I me to 1 ns I re- i ; it with f jr there :r whole. I hope y^ Dtes are 1 r Com- )f Spitz- 3 by the fervant, MAY. THUS do the Dutch fcamcn employed in the Greenland iifhery agree with our own countrymen, in never having fa much as heard of a perpetual barrier of fixed ice, to the North- ward of Spitzbergen, in 80 dcg. and a half, {a) which indeed is one of their moft common latitudes for catching whales, whilft all of them fuppofe the fea to be generally open in thofe parts, and many of them penetrate feveral degrees beyond it. I lliali only add, that in my former pamphlet, (b) I have mentioned a h&i or two, which I had reafon to ex^jedt from the Rev. Mr.Tooke, Chaplain to the fadory at Pcteril)urgh, whicli he conceived would flrongjy prove that the fea is ojjen to the Pole, and which I have lince received in a letter from him dated the 26th of May laft. Mr. Tookc hath been afllircd by feveral perfons, who have paffed the winter at Kola in Lapiand, that in the fevercft weather whenever a Northerly wind blows, the cold diminiflies in^ ftantly, and that if it continues, it always brings on a diaw as long as it lafts. He hath alfo been informed by the fame authority, that the feamen who go out from Kola upon the whale and morfe fifheries early in March (for the fea never freezes there) throw off their winter garments as foon as they are from 50 to 100 werfts ely to the Thns («) One of them indeed fays, that the Ice frequently packs in ihat latitude, which he fuppofcs to arile from the meeting of two currents, {b) Page 23^ note [i]. . . A y' fT [ «o8 ] ucirts (rf) from land, and continue without them all the time ihcy are upon the fifhery, during which they experience no in- convenience from the cold, but that on their return at the end of May) as they approach land, the cold incrcafes to fuch a fc- verity, that they fuffer greatly from it. This account agrees with that of Barcntz, whilft he wintered in Nova '/cmbla, (/>) and thut of the Rufluns in Maloy-Bnm, the North wind cannot therefore during the coldert fea- fons of the year be fuppofed to blow over ten degrees of ice, even if fuch a mafs would not be probably increafed whilft the winter continued. Governor Ellis indeed, whofe zeal in profecuting the at- tempt of difcovering the N. W. paflage through Hudfon's Bay, is fo well known, hath fuggefted to me an argument, which fcems to prove the abfolute impofldbility of a perpetual barrier of ice from 80 deg. and a half to the Pole. If fuch a tradl hath exifted for centuries, the increafe, in point of height, muft be amazing in a courfe of years, by the fnow which falls during the winter being changed into ice, and which muft have formed confequently a mountain perhaps equal to the Pic of Tencriflf. Now the ice which fometimes packs to the Northward of Spitzbergcn, is faid commonly not to exceed two yards in height. D. B. (a) Three werfts make two miles. (b) See, Thoughts on the Probability, &c. of reaching the North Pole, page 83. I N I S. I ,'t the time ;e no in- r ihc end bch a fc- [ 106 I wintered oy-I3nin, iert fea- es of ice, vhilft the J the at- fon's Bay, t, which il barrier in point the fnow id which lal to the s to the > exceed D. B. orth Pole, . •it ADDENDA. "December 14, 1775. ^T^HE yVftronomcr Royal having been fo good as to fiirnilK: X me with the following memorandum, which he made at the time it bears date, I here fubjoin it, as a well authenticated Inftance of a Navigator's Jiaving reached 84 degrees and a half of Northern Latitude. AdR- Stephens, who went many voyages to the EaA-Indics,- and made much ufc of the Lunar method of finding the Longi- tude, in which he is very expert, tells me this i6th of March,, 1773, that he was formerly two voyages on the Greenland iilliery ; that in the 2d, in the year 1 75 4, he was driven offSpitzbergen, together with a Dutch lllip, by a S. S. E. wind,. N. N. W. Elkterly by compafs into latitude 84 deg.and a half, or within 5 deg. and a half of the Pole, in which latitude he was near the end of the month of May. They faw no land after leaving Hackluits Headland, or the Northern-moft part of Spitzbergen, and were back in the month of June. Did not find the cold exceiTive, and ufed little more than common clothing; met with but little ice, and the Icfs the further they went to th^ North- wprd. Met with no drift-wood. It is. always clear weather with a North wind, and thick weather with a Southerly wind; neverthelefs they could take the Sun's altitude for the latitude It. ' moil:. r "0 1 mnCt ci:;ys. TrtJ fcu Is Cjuiic fmootb amonp; tlir ice, as in ths Kivcr Thrimcs, and lb they alfo found it t » the N' r,h of Spiiz- licr^cn. i\!ct vvltii no ice lii^hcr ihan the fliij/s gunnel. Ima- gines it would hardly have i)ecn ( (*lder under the Pole, than ihcy experienced ii ; although he thinks ihc cold rather in- creafed o:\ ^oin^^ North^vard. Think- ilic c unents arc very variable and have no certain or conllant diredicn. Says he has often tailed the ice, when the fca water has been let to run or diyoffit, and always found it frcfh. That the fea-water will freeze againft the Ihip's bows and rii^i^ing, but he never favv it freeze in the fhip. That it never freezes in the pumps. A litde piece of ice detained under a lar^^e piece of ice, when it gets loofe from it and comes up to the fur lace of the water, is very dangerous, it emerging ^vitha force which will f >metimes knock a hole in the bottom of the Ship. The Dutch lliip which was driven with theirs from Spitzbergen ran againft a large piece of ice, and was loft, the (hips being then feparated to a confidera- ble diftance. The winds in thefe feas are generally Northerly ; the Southerly winds are commonly damp and cold. I ' Having thus ftated the memorandum as I received it from ^r. Malkelyne, I iliall now make fome obfcrvations on the con- tents. It appears by the preceding pages, that in this fame year, viz. 1754, both Mr. Ware and Mr. Adams {a) penetrated to 82 and an half, and 83 degrees during the month of June, and both of them conceived that they might have reached the North Pole. It (a) See the Prdbability of reaching the North Pole, p. 42, &c. 4 as In ths of Spkz- ;l. Ima- )lc, than ■athcr in- r.rc very ys he has it to run fea-vvater he novel" le pnm\)s. ee, vvhon he water, [^) me times lip which arge piece conridera- ^ortherly ; d it from in the con- year, viz. to 82 and id both of c North h It , &c. [ ni ] Tt appears alfo by the above account that Mr. Stephens had ]jrcceeded a'J far as 84 and an half, the fca being open to the Northward a month earlier in this fam*^ 3'ear. From thi^ and other fa(^s of the fame kind, I cannot but in- fer that the attempt fli^ivd be made early in the feafon ; if I am rii^ht al(b in wliat I have before fuppofed, that the ice which often {lack*^ near the coafts of 8[>itzbergen comes chieHy from the rivers, which empty themfelvcs into the Tartarian fea, it feems highly probable that this is the proper time for pufhii?g to the Northward, as the ice in fuch rivers cannot be then com- pletely broken np. What other ice therefore may be feen at this time, is probably the remains of what was difembogued during the preceding fiimmer. Another proof of this arifes from what happened in 1773, for the Carcafe and Race Horfe were obftruAed at 80 deg. and a half, by an immenfe bank of ice, during part of the months of July and Auguft; 'but four Greenland mafters were a degree further to the Northward, duringthe(^)monthsof May and June, in the fame year. No one winters in Spitzbergen, but fome few RuflTians, from whom however we have not been informed what happens during that feafon, though it Ihould feem from the obfervations of Ba- rentz, thole of the RuflTians in Maloy Brun, and a fliip having pufhed into the Atlantic, from Hudfon's Bay, during the midfl: of December, (c) that the Northern Seas, are then navigable. For the fame reafon probably Clipperton (d) who pafTed the Straits of Magellan in the midft of winter, faw no ice, which is (f>) Sec the Probability of reaching the North Pole, pag. 4, 45, 46, and 57. {c) See ibid. P. 83. (d) See Callander' 1 Collcftion of Voyages, Vol. 3. P. 461, I [ '>* 1 is fo frc gently met with at Midfammer by thofe who fail to tha Southward of Cape Horn. I take this opportunity of recapitulating the years fince 1746 (e)y during which it appears from theinftances I have ftated, that the fea to the North of Spitzbergen hath been open, fo as to per- mit attempts of approaching the Pole, which will Ihew that fuch opportunities are not uncommon, and it is hoped that they will be more frequently embraced, from a parliamentary reward of 5000I. being given to fuch of his Majefty's fubj'^As as lliall firft peneirate beyond the 89th degree of Northern La- titude ; the Bill for which purpofe hath already paffed both. Houfcs of Parliament (fj. V DAINES BARRINGTON. (c) Viz. 1746, 1751, 1752, 1754, 1756, 1759, i763> ^766, 1769, 1771, and 1773- (f) By the fame Bill, a reward of 20,oool. is given to fuch of his Majefty'^^ Subjeds as fliall firft difcover a communication between the Atlantic and Pa- cific Oceans, in any diredlion whatfocver of the Northern Hemifphere, -♦♦.- -fj. ^ '•'■ .'S? .mm -%. 1. t > - , ' ^' r ■* I -'Urt'vrL*'.' .., ,1. jL^M^'^ ■4i**"fi;. /^^wf^ ^^ - ^ /