The royal gazette — [Charleston] S.C., 1782-05-15 00:00:00, page 4

LITERARY ARTICLE.I
From the Critical Review for November, 1781.
Miscellanies by t/>e Honourable Danies Barrington 4to.
ri HIS volume contains a variety of mifccllaneous effhys on
4 geographical difeoveries, ornithology, and ether curious
and ufeful fubjelfs.
Some of the firft articles arc traits on the possibility of reach
ing the North Pole; firft publifhedin 1775 and 1776, and now
reprinted with additional observations.
Navigators have penetrated into the ardic circle, apd acqui
red some knowledge of Nova Zembla, Weft Greenland, and
Spitzbergen or Bast Greenland. But their navigation has ter
minated at a considerable distance from the pole; and it is
generally fuppdfed, that the greatest efforts of human iiidultry
can never surmount the barriers, with which nature seems to
have encircled those regions. But a true philosopher will never
despair of making farther advances. Every attempt for this
purpose is laudable, and may be attended with no inconsider
able advantage with rtfpelt tonavigation and geography. There
is a fpaciotis field for investigation. A very conhderable part
of our hemifpherc is yet unknown. We may Bill fay with
Seneca.
Verticil annij
&culaferh, t/uibus oceanus
FimAa terum laxet, et ingens
Patent tellies, Tipbyfqut\noios
Detegat orbes *.
Notwithflanding our modern difcoverieS) which have amply
• verified this remarkable prediction, many more will certainly
be made by future navigators, of which we have at present no
idea. And an accident may bring us to the knowledge of what
could never be suggested by arguments a priori.
The ingenious author of these traits appears to be a zealous
advocate for prosecuting our geographical rcfcarches, Special
ly towards the north pole.
Among other general reasons, which he produces in favour
of his opinion, that the polar seas are navigably, or not cover
ed with perpetual ice, he mentions the following:
" Nothing has been supposed to ihew more ftiongly the wis
dom ofateneficent Creator, than that every part ot this globe,
should . (taking the year throughout) have an equal proportion
of the fun's light.
" It is admitted, that the equatorial parts have, rather too
much heat for the comfort of the inhabitants, and thcle with
in the polar circles too little'; but as we know that the tropical
limits are peopled, it should seem, that the twopolar circles
are equally defined for the fame purpole'; or, if not for the
benefit of man, tit lead for the fuftinence of certain ammals.
" The largest of these, in the whole scale of creation, is the
whale, which, though a iifh, cannot live long under water,
without occasionally railing its head into another element, for
the purpose of respiration * : molt other filh,allo occalionally
approach the furface of the water.
“ If the ice therefore extends from N.lat. 80 4 to the pole f,
fll the intermediateipace is denied to the Spitzbergen whales,
as well perhaps as to other fi(h: and is that glorious luminary,
the fun, to shine in vain for half the year upon ten degrees of
latitude round each of the poles, without contributing either
to animal life or vegetation? For neither can take place upon
this dreary expanse of ice.
— "I beg leave also to rely much on the necessity of the
ice's yielding to the constant reciprocation o' the tides ; because
no sea was ever known to be frozen but the Black Sea, and some
final! parts of the Baltick; neither of which have any tides ; at
the fame time, that the waters of both contain much left fait,
than those of other Teas, from the great influx of frefh water
rivers: for this last reason it may likewise be presumed, that
the circumpolar seas are very fait, because there are probably
no such influx beyond N. lat. 80. Spitzbergen itielf having no
rivers.",
A writer, in the Swedish Transitions of 175% fays, “ There
a[c three kinds of ice in the northern seas. The firft is like
melted snow, whi^istecome partly hardened, is more ealily
broken into pieces, less transparent, is seldom more than fix
inches thick, and when dissolved, is found to be intermixed
With salt. This firft fort of ice is the only one, which is ever
formed from sea water.
“ It a certain quantity of water, which contains as much salt
as fca wat :r, is exposed to the greatest degree of cold, it never
becomes firm and pure ice, but resembles tallow, or luet,
whilst it preserves the taste of salt; so that the sweet transpa
rent ice can never be formed in the fca. If the ice ofthe sea
itfelf therefore, confined in a small vcdel, without any motion,
cannot thus become true ice, much less can it in a deep and
agitated ocean." The author hence infers, that all the floating
fee in the polar seas comes from the Tartarian rivers and Green
land. Mr. Barrington is of the fame opinion.
In the Philosophical Transitions for the year ty6, there
is an experiment for parting frclh water from salt by freezing.
If, upon this principle, the froft detaches as much water from
saline particles, as is Sufficient to form an incrustation, may
not we suppose, that a much larger body of ice may be gra
dually fuperadded by the freezing of the rain and fleet in the
polar regions? Of if the basis of the ice is formed by large
floats, which come from the Tartarian rivers and Greenland,
may not those floats be rendered permanent by the constant
addition of ice, formed but of dews, fogs, rain, &c. ? This
point, we apprehend, deserves some consideration.
The author, having made some other previous remarks,
produces Several instances of navigators, who have penetrated
beyond 80 f
In this detail lie mentions a great number, who have pro
ceeded to 81, 82, and3 3 ; and some, who are said to have ad
vanced as far as 86, 88, and 89 ; but the hitter were chiefly
Dutchmen, and their relations cannot perhaps be Sufficiently
authenticated. In Harris's Voyage is the following pallage:
" By the Dutch journals they get into N. lat. 88° 56', and the
sea open."
From a variety ofinftances, which our author has collected
of Greenland ships advancing into very high latitudes, from
much conversation with the officers ofthe royal navy, and with
intelligent seamen, both in England and Holland, who have
been many years concerned rathe whale fifnery, he infers, that
an attempt to fail to the north pole is by no means that chime
rical projelt, which some may imagine;
The reason why none of our Greenland whale fllips have
ever made the attempt is this: they are all insured; if there
fore they were to go beyond the common fiihing lat fades, it
* Seneca adds:
Nec fit terris
Ultima Thule.
Cur author, having occasion to mention Thule, supp fes it to be
Ireland; and endeavours to support his opinion by a passage in Sta
rtius, Sylv. v. 317- But this notion is utterly inconfident with the
account, which is given of Thule, and of Icrne, .Juverna, or Hiber
nia, by Strabo, Pliny, Mela, Solinus, Dionyfius, and other Greek
and Roman writers. Some take Thule to be Iceland, and others
,Schetland. From the fabulous and contradictory accounts of the an
cients, it is probable, that this famous island was with them a fort of
poetical region, or a terra incognita, like the Infula Atlantica of Pla+o.
* “ Sometimes the ice is fixed, where there are but few whales
seen; for underneath the ice they cannot breathe" Martens's Voy
age to Spitzbergen.
, J The limits of the voyage towards the North Pole, performed
by Captain Phipps, now Lord Mulgrave, ir. 1773, if we rightly rc
ulkrt, were 80° 48'.
would be such a departure from the voyage insured, that they
would not be able to recover, if accidents happened in filch a
deviation.
Yet in a little time this scheme will most probably be tried:
for by a late alt of parliament a reward of §oool. is offered to
such of his Majesty's Subjects, as Ihall firft penetrate be,end
the 89 degree of northern latitude; and a reward of 20,000!.
to such ns shall firft difeover a Comlnunicaiion between the At
lantick and the Pacitick oceans, in any direction whatsoever of
the northern hemisphere.
The late Captain Pickerfgill, who commanded the Lion
armed brig, on the coals of Weft Greenland in 1776, in his
Journal, which was laid before the Royal Society in 1778,
fays:''
" I shall conclude with a few observations on this part of
the world (Greenland) so terribly represented by people, who,
in order to raise their own merit, make dangers and difficul
ties of common occurrences merely because the places are
unknown, and there is little or no probability of their being
ever confradiHed. Ido not mean this as a personal reflection ;
but having discoursed with many of the makers of Greenland
vessels, as well as their employers, and heard such dreadful
Tories of these countries, I cannot help remarking it, as tend
ing to mislead those, who, from a laudable principle, would
le benefactors to their country, but are deterred from it by
these in freprefentafions. I shall communicate observations on
the ice, the atmosphere, the land of Frobisher, and the proba
bility of a N. W.paffage, in a fliort time."
This however has unfortunely been prevented by the Cap
tain's death; but the Adronomer Royal, who communicated
his Journal to the Royal Society, informed Mri Barrington by
letter, " figthe had often heard this navigator express himfelf
as well afftired of a N. W. piffage; adding, that he received
accounts of it from the inhabitants on the fide of Davis's Straits
and that it was difeltly N. Ww very different from Baffin's
track." Captain Pickerfgill likcwife thought " that the bed
method to find the parage was to get out early, before the ice
broke away in the upper part of Davis's Straits."
I From many other reports, which the author has collected,
he infers, that the polar voyage Should be attempted early in
the fcafun. “ For if, fays he, lam right in what I have 'np
pcld, that the ice, which often packs near the coasts of Spits
bergen, conics chiefly from the risers, which empty themselves
into the Tartarian fc.l, it seems highly probable, that this is
the proper time of pulhing to the northward, as the ice in such
rivers cahnot be then completely broken up. What other ice
therefore may be seen at this time is probably the remains of
what was disembogued, during the preceding summer.
“ Another proof of this arifts from what happened i 1773;
for the Carcase and Race-horse weie obftrulted at 80° and a
half, by an immense bank office, during part of the months of
July and Aug^ft ; but four Greenland makers were a degree
farther to the northward during the months of May and June,
in the fame year.
“ No one winters in Spitzbergen, but some few Ruffians;
from whom however we have not been informed, what hap
pens during that season, though it should seem from the ob
servations of Barentz, those of the Kuffi ins in Maloy Brun,
and a flrip having pushed into the Atlantick from Hudson's Bay,
during the inidlt of December *,,that ine northern seas are
then nivigable.\
" For the fame reason probably Clipperton, who passed the
straits of Magellan in the midd of winter, saw no ice, which
is so frequently met with at rEdfummer by those, who fail to
the fouthw?rd of Cage' Horn.
" — Ifihe ice however fhonld pa-k in April or May (which
I conceived would not, as ittle must be left to float from the
piecectliuK famines) yet as the warm weather is then increasing
from day to day, the navigator would wait wki ifome degree
of patience, till his drip may,? relented" from this temporary
obftruaiou. The filiation of the difeoverer underthefe Cir
cumstances, may be compared to a traveller, paffihg over a
large trait of seassad, when the tide is flowing or ebbing, in
the firft instance he fours his horse, because the sea may be ex
pected at his heels ; in the latter he proceeds with great com
posure, as every inllant he loses in point of time, the lea is far
ther removed."
But the greatest difficulty attending a navigator in very high
latitudes is revoc^re granum, how to get, back aga:n ; for,
ihould he be beset there in the ice, his situation would be w.ry
dangerous; as he might be detained a long time, if not for the
whole winter.,
In order to obviate, as much as possible, this and some other
objections, ouranthor recommends the following precautions;
The ship Ihould be such as is commonly used in the Green
land fifhery, or gather of a smaller lize, as its works the more
readily, when the ice begins to p ick round it.
“ There should, on no account, be a larger complement of
men than can be conveniently flowed in the boats, as it fore
times happens, that the Greenland vessels are loft in the ice;
but the crews generally escape by means of their boats. The
crew also ihould confix of, a larger proportion of smiths and
carpenters, than are usually put on board common ships.
" As it may happen, that the crews in the boats may be
kept a conliderable time, before they can reach either flrip or
shore, there should be a fort of awning, to be used occasion
ally, if the weather should prove very inclement.
“ As it is not necessary, that the boats should last many
years, it is advised that they Ihould be built ofthe lighted ma
terials, because on this account they are more easily dragged
over the packets ice.!
“ — The Dutch vessels in the Greenland fifhery have three
boats, fattened on each fide of the ship, which may be fuffi
cient to contain the whole crew, in case of accidents. The
early difeoverers had always what was called a ship in quarters
on boird, which may be put together, when a creek, &c. was
to be explored."
Here it may nbt be improper to take notice of some observ
ations communicated to the author by Captain Ford of the
Manchester, a Greenland veflel.
“ The only precaution, fays the Captain, to be taken, in
order to proceed towards the pole, is to fit out two strong
ships, that are handy and fail fait well equipped, and secured
in the manner of those that are generally sent to Greenland on
tiie whale fifhery. Such ships should be manned with about
forty able seamen in each, and vilhialled for eighteen months,
or two vears, and be entirely under the command of some ex
pert, able, and experienced fcaman, who has frequented those
seas for some time pad. They should fail from England about
the middle of April, in order to be in with the edge of trie ice
about the 10th of May, when it begins to separate and open.
There is not the lead reason to suppose, that the seas to the
weft, north-weft, and north of Spitzbergen are covered with
permanent and perpetual ice, so as never to be opened by the
operation of the winds: for daily experience thews us, that a
northerly wind, when of any long duration, opens and Sepa
rates the ice, so as to admit of fllips going amongst it, in sun
dry places, to a very high latitude, if attempted." —
To return to Mr. Barrington's remarks:—“ As it is possible
also, that the crew may be obliged to winter within the arctic
circle, it is recommended, that the ship should be balaled with
coals. That there Ihould be a framed houte of wood on board,
to be made as long as poffi>le, for the opportunity of exercise
* For these and other facts, winded to in the foregoing extracts,
we muff refer the reader, who wit,.s to know them, to Mr. Bar
ringtoc. Traits./
within doors; and that there should be a Ruffian stove, as a
fire in the common chimney does not warm the room equably.
On the Labrador coaf tthe furriers raise a wall of earth about
three feet thick, all round their huts, as high as the roof,
which is found to contribute much to warmth within doors,
so as to want little more heat than arises from the steam of
lamps.
“ It appears, by the alcotkrts of the Dutch, who wintered
in Nora Zembla, as well as the Ruffians, who continued fix
years in Maley Brun, that during this season there are some
times days of a tolerable temperature; snow (hoes therefore
should be provided, as also snow eyes, not to lose the benefit
of the air and exercise, during such an interval. The beard
likewise should be fufferetl to grow on the approach of win
ter, from which the Ruffian couriers are enabled to support
the severity ofthe open air."
The author farther recommends Ruffian boots, the winter
cap of the furriers of North-America, leads for the hands, and
dumb bells for ekercife ; the use of the flefh brush, in order to
prevent the feurvy, and some very ufeful precautions with re
gard to clothing and provisions.
These are some of the most material observations, which this
very ingenious and publick Spirited writer has advanced, with
refpelt to the possibility of teaching the North Pole. We have
extended our account of these trails to a considerable length,
as we entirely agree with the author, that it is rather a reflec
tion upon a feientifick nation, which hdslotig ak:n the lead ill
geographical discoveries, and sent out ships which have pene
trated into the nnta-&ick circle, that more is not known, with
legard to the circumpolar regions of our own hemisphere, than
can be collected from maps, made in the time of Charles I.
Specially when the run from the mouth of theThames to the
North Pole is net a longer one, than from Falmouth to the
Cape de Verde islands.
^L7Z^= —tex*="~!f^z^z^^^=i^!^^^L^^t^^^^^!!^!!!!!!!!^
A variety of ufeful MEDICINES,
Among which are,
Jesuits Bark, S-anifh Plies, Glauber and Epsom Salts, Rhubarb in
root and powder, Magneiia, Manna, Jallap, Camphire, Alloes, Cha
momile Flowers, Ipecaeuana, Senna, Huxam's Tin&ure, Stoughton's
Bitters, Jaynes's Fever Powders, Sal Volatile, Lavender Spirits and
Drops, Baume de Vie, Bririfh Oil, Eau de Luce, Orange Flower
Water, Gum Arabic, Copperas, VerdegreaFe, Allum, Alleppo
Galls, Anderson and Hooper's Pills, Analeptic Ditto.
Cinnamon, cloves and nutmegs, black pepper, cask and jar raisins.
Writing, cartridge, and blossom paper, quills, ink powder, wa
fers and pounce, a neat Ledger and Journal, with other blank books.
Pewter diflies and plates, ditto spoons, candle moulds, pewter
measures from a gallon downto a gill; tin camp kettles and sauce,
pans, shoe fpinnel, &c. &c.
AL S O,
The following ARTICLES,
At a Moderate Advance,
LOAF SUGAR, London bottled RED PORT, of the
firft quality ; very fine London bottled PORTER, in hamp
ers, Bohea, Green and Souchong TEAS, COFFEE, &c.
SELLING OF F,
Z>y V/bolcJale end Retail,
A large assortment of GOODS,
Suitable f?r the Season,
By BRIAN CAP E,
Nearly as cheap as they can be imported, .
At his Store, No. 84, Church-street,
for Caflier Government Bills,
^mn„g which arc the following Articles:
IRISH linens, German and
Scotch ofnaburgs
Checks, garlix,dowlas Russia dia-
Cher and towelling
Brown and white corduroys
Russia drabs, India dimity and
jeans
Brown Hollands, fail canvass and
raven duck
Mens thread and cotton hofc
Men- fine beaver and white hats
Womens fine black fattinet, cal
limanco and red Morroco fhocs
Womens black callimauco and
ruffett coats
Womens flays, India and English
perfinns
Black Barcelona cravats and hand
kerchiefs
Silk purses, Bandano handker
chiefs
Silk and cotton Romall ditto
Black ruffe'll, callimancoes
Tammies, du r ants,
Printed linen and can brick pocket
handkerchiefs
Diaper and damafle table-cloths
Plain and ruffled white fliirts
Piflol and long lawns
Clear lawns and cambrick, gen
hams
Printed linens and caluco-s
A variety of fuperfine fashionable 1
COLLINS & HAYES,
No. 12, Broad-Street,
Have imported M the last Jbifo from LONDON,
The following ARTICLES,
WbiA they are felling on the m tf reasonable terms;
RED Port, Madeira, Lisbon and Malmfey wines in pipes,
hogfneads and quarter-calksi
Lilbon Wine and London Porter in bottles
Soap, Starch and Hair-Powder
Long and fliort Tobacco Pipes
Paints, Oil, Roll Brimhone
I.amp and Ivory Black and Blacking Balls
Military Shirts, ruffled and plain
Ditto worked, yarn and thread Hose, and
A general assortment of DRY GOODS.
N. B. A number of strong iron-bound CASKS.§
FORSAL E,
MOLASSES, Jamaica Spirits, Mufeovado Sugar, a small
quantity es the best green Coffee in bags, and tallow Candles,
and a few tons of large fixed Lignumvitae.
A L S 0,
Excellent COD-FISH and YAMS,
Just imported.
Chartfern, &tb May, 1782. JOHN MORRIS.
ALL persons having any demands againf tthe estate of the
late Hop Kin Price, deceased, art requeued to make them
known immediately, and those indebted to it by bond, note or
otherwise, are desired to difeharge the fame as soon as possible.
ROBERT WILLIAMS, )
\bm. WILLIAM PRINT, > Executory
JOHN CORBYN MORRIS, )
broad cloths and kerfeymires
Sagathies
Green, blue and red low priced
cloths for soldiers eloathing
Blue green and white Welch plains
Duffil blankets, sailors jackets and
Dutch caps
Mens fadles, bridles, horse whips
Mail pillions, saddle cloths, bridle
•ritts and stirrup irons
Crowley's broad and narrow hoes
Steel corn mills, all forts of nails
for house and fliip carpenters
Hooks and hinges, HL hinges, or
chains, indigo hooks, pad,
flock and iron rimmed locks
cooper- axes, carpenters broad
axes, hooks and eyes for tents
hand saws, whip, cross cut and
handfavr files
Boxes of window glass, fine tip
ped tobacco pipes, glass tumb
les, decanters and wine glaffe^
table china in setts.
China plates and dishes, tea cup,
and saucers,
Tureenes, table knives and forks
Shoe Knives, cutteau and pen
knives, fciffars
Regimental (hoe buckles
>weec oil, anchovies, walnuts,
olives and capers, mustard.