Page:Journal of a Voyage to Greenland, in the Year 1821.djvu/58

34 south of Cape Farewell, taking thence a north-east direction to Iceland, and then by the side of West Greenland, stretching north-north-east to the north of Jan Mayen, and continuing that course till about the seventy-fourth degree of latitude, which it enters near the sixth degree of east longitude, and from whence it takes a northern direction to the eightieth degree of latitude, leaving an uninterrupted and open passage to the celebrated fishing station, on the western side of Spitzbergen. The character of the present season, is as follows; at the fifteenth degree of west longitude, from Iceland, the ice took a north-east direction, forming a deep bight in the seventy-sixth degree of latitude, in the meridian of Greenwich, and here joining the eastern ice, which probably extended itself to Nova Zembla, if not to Lapland; it consequently shut up the usual passage to the northward, leaving only a space of open sea, on the west side of Spitzbergen, extending round Hakluyt's head-land, terminating round point Look-out, and varying in width a few degrees of longitude. This information was obtained from the masters of some few ships, that were able to penetrate through the ice, by taking a lower degree of latitude than we had attempted.

We kept pursuing our course to the eastward, through very heavy ice, which was singularly attractive, by the extraordinary variety of forms that it exhibited, not unworthy the attention of those fond of architectural studies; having spaces hollowed out, as if formed for the passage of currents, or, as