Page:Journal of a Voyage to Greenland, in the Year 1821.djvu/240

186 In making these observations my purpose has been to excite an interest on the subject of Old or lost Greenland; and to induce an attempt towards its recovery. A voyage to this colony might, unless the interposition of ice or foul winds should prevent it, be made in ten days; the expenses therefore attendant on a discovery of that part, from the southern extremity to the polar circle, would be comparatively small, and probably it might be effected by holding out a premium to masters of whale ships, for the best survey and description of the coast; for I have been informed, that some ships had it in their power, during last season, to have effected a landing without difficulty or even hazard.

A strong gale of wind, the thickest fog possible, and the most turbulent sea I ever experienced, with the rugged shore of Iceland partly under our lee, placed us in much anxiety and peril, as our reckoning brought us within a few miles of the land, and all who were conversant with navigation judged that we were about to be drawn into one of the bights of the island. Ice was also seen, and found to extend at least two hundred miles to the eastward of its ordinary course, and in a position extremely unfavourable, as well as perilous to fishing. These multiplied obstructions and dangers changed the intention of our cautious and experienced commander, who, for the safety of the ship, deemed it prudent to bear up, in order to avoid the land and