The Statesman.
London, England, 1818-10-17 00:00:00

NORTHERN 'EXPEDITION.

We have been favoured with the following curious
and interehting letter to the Honoura ble Captain Na-
pier, R. N. from on board the Isabella, one of the
ships at present employed io the Northern Espedi.
tion :--
11b AT:o.Psty'.; ship Isabella, off Sugar Lolf Ray, Davis's
Struit, July is, aisont. 74. 2. N. kin g-58. W.,
64 MY DEAR SIR,—I take the opportunity of B
Leith ship to let you know what we are about in this
icy region ; a few extracts from the log will give some
idea of our proceedings. On the 31 May left Shet.
land, and had a tolerably fair passage across the At.
biotic ; on the 224 were in longitude off Cape Fire.
well ; 2 deg. south of it foetid our variation iocrras.
ing as we went west; temperature of air and water
neatly the same as at Shetland, thermometer at 42.
or 4t) deg. On the 26th. saw the first ice-berg, lat.
58.38. lung. 6U. 54.; we now had snow and sleet,
the thermometer at freezing,igoacrd4l of loose ice
all round. June '2, in tat. 63. long. 56. were close in
with the main west ice, which 'we suppose extended
the whole way to the American coast ;on the 4th,
made the Greenland coasi, in lat. 63. 42. but did not
stand close in ; the land here appeared something
like the north coast of Spain, and about the same
height, the Mountains very precipitous, and terminat-
ing in ragged peaks. We continued our course to
the northward, as the plods and ice permitted, keep.
jog on the edge of 9re main.weat ice, which we found
tending to N. E. On the Bth, in lat. 68. 20..,1ang.
55. 50. a few leagoes off the Greenland coast, we
were so hemmed in with ice all sides that we could
not run through ; a fine S. W. gale was blowing, and
were obliged to tack about where we could find room.
On the 9th, we made fist to. pp ice.bertagroand its
38 fathoins, iboet a mile off shore. TheJuode of
anchoring to.„140/11,. Iffy easy : the boat goes a-head
with the anchovy ,aqd fixes, them before the ship ap.
proaches,wthee ittedy, the ship stands in and mate
.434 hog to the keys low bergr hat,thi bowsprit Illy%
over,is preferred, and aground. if it can be hid. On
the .10tb wen (it
. _

1-11••

lid sgroonil it It Cap ire nso. consists of inecrs -
ed to get 'inde r way) a Mall I dee; abaft a feet above the serfage, when it is blu WA
-Z:-.14.000.4434 •- - -
•
• _

(, ... . • leitty,,
...„. 4.... .
(
' r
...... -
Pr. ''• .; • i

,

FRENCH PAPERS.

together by strong winds, one piece is edged op on
the fop efanother ; it is then called plaid ice, of a
peck. Flaws are large pieces of field ice. The ice
generally drifts with the wind, though' a current must
set smith wasti,or how would the bergs find their way
south. We have not been able to detect any current.
The flood title sets here from southward.'
" At Witygat we had a rise and fall of seven feet at
spring tides. Where the ice-bergs drift into similes'
water (that is to say 150 fathoms or under) they
.24.0orect end obstruct the passage of the smaller ice,
mitd form barriers which it is difficult to pass. In 68.
there is a reef, in 701. another, in 74. another, gene-
/ally found full of ice by the fishers; we have found
it the same. In standing a few leagues from land we
find 85 fathoms here, closer on 150, 90, and so on.
The water runs in small streams from the bergs, so
--we have no difficulty in getting it. lam now more
-sanguine of getting a long-way north and west than
was at the first of the voyage. lam of opinion that
titre ice will clear away, end that very soon. The
small ice has been for some time consuming fast, and
svils be all dissolved by the end of this month, even
without *hid to break it.
JULY 18.—Yesterday en opening in the ice en-
abled us to get to 74.43. when we were again stop-
ped—the ice here much heavier and in fields. We
are at present fast to a field, in thick fog, which
freezes as it falls, and covers every thing with ice.—
When at the Three Islands we made some further ob-
per vations on the bearings of distant objects by com-
pass, and foetid changes of bearings of three
points at, east and west.--The compasses for
some time have traversed very sluggishly ; this we
suppose is swing to the increase of dip. I think it
nut at all improbable, that as the terrestrial magnet-
ism begins to act more inclined to the compass nee.
die, it will act with less force ; the iron of the ship
still acting in the same angle, draws the needle to.
wards the centre of the ship, which causes this great
:,- deviation► of the compass, and should we reach the
'place where the dip is 90, I think the compass will
Vend always North and South by the magnetism of
chip. We did not speak the Leith ship; this
east therefore take its chance of any craft. The de.
scription of Greenland, given in Dr. Brewster's
;Encycloperdia, is so correct, that Do one need add
soy thing more on that subject, until the face of the
- .country is again changed. I had picked up some
stones from the different parts where we touched for
Dr. B. ; but having since read the article, Greenland,
in his book, I end that he knows more than a ship
F toad could tell him*. We have been unfortunate in
Lilting animals, so that I have got no crystalline
lenses for him. I bespoke some eyes of whales from
- 'the fishers, but the chance of their killing fish, or
sAlf -our falling in witl► them again is doubtful. If we
e 101 l in with ■ Leith ship, I will send the stones.
`• JULY '2'2.—Yesterday, we got an opening which
breaght us to the 75th degr!e. The whales begin to
make their appearance, several having been killed
within these eight days. The main land appears one
coatioved smooth ridge of snow, only here and there
the black peak of a mountain appearing; some large
islands on the coast less covered with snow; the land
ice 'Vends three or four leagues 'off, so there is no
prospect of approaching the coast hereabouts. We
sound occasionally in from 200 to 400 fathoms soft
mud and small stones. Three -days we were beset in
the Ice ; could not observe any current, by the lead
lying at the bottom, though the ice on the sus-.
, face was in motion.
66 JULY 25, lat. 75. 21. long. 60. 30.—Got here
this morning, and now see more clear water that, we
have seen for some time past. We must now be
crossing the Magnetic Pole fast, as the variation in.
-creases so mach. It is puzzling to find out exactly
.how the ship is steering by the compass; what with
.the greet variation and error, arising from the ship's
attraction, and the sluggish traversing of the coot.
passes, we must consider some time before a course
of wind can properly be named. We are now the
+northernmost ship, and have made fast to the ice, on
purpose to send away a few letters. The fish are
earning so very plenty. that all the ships are em•
plo) ed, end will probably proceed no further north
this season. This afteritoott we got jammed between
two flaws, and seeing a ship taking fish a short dis-
tance from us, Captain Ross sends all his dispatches
Kith her, in case of not falling in with another, or
ice opening awl separating us. You will hear from
me by every opportunity.—l am, .etc.
J. B.
'1 P. S. While writing these last lines the ice has
closed all round us, fast to the northward. You
may guess how fickle it is. We are now about three
miles off a smelly rocky island in 270 fathoms mud ;
the island four or five leagues from the main land,
and ice connecting it. The temperature of the water
to-day is 36 degrees higher than it has Dern for
some weeks. We see land beating Y.W. true."
" * The article Greenland, was written by Sir C. Giusecke,
who spent seven year. in that Chuntr)."

Psnif.7, OCT. 13.—The King, yesterday, prome-
naded on the Boulevards du Nord and do Midi.
The Duke de Reggio continues his services as
Major-General of the Guard, on service, till the 31st
inst. when he will be relieved by Marshal Victor,
instead of Marshal Marmoot, who is absent.
The Commandant of Valenciennes has sent notice
to the. Mayor to make arrangements for the reception
of toe §'overeigns, who are expected there either the
I:th or 17th instant.
" We were the first to announce that the principle
of the evacuation of the lereuch territory was agreed
upon M the conferences at Aix-la-Chapelle on the
`d instant, and this intelligence was authentic. In
our Ais-la-Chapelle article of yesteiday, we gave
a detail of the formalities observed daring the nego.
ciatioo, and we stated, that agreeably to those for-
malities a thing might be se_rfectly decided upon,
previously to the definitivallnit being drawn up and
signed. It then was our duty to await the ulterior
details which were published is the official Journal
yesterday.
[Here follows the official article relative to the
evacuation, as extracted by us from the Moniteur of
Mondry last.)
" To the above article we are enabled to add some
details which we bate received from a respectable
t! urce :