The Portland gazette. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1818-1824, 1818-11-10

power.
It 10 impofible to picture Gtuation
more awful than that Of thc poor crew
of a whaler, who fee their frail bark thus
fatally enclosed, expecting immediate and
inevitable dsaruaion. /.
Before the end Of June, the fhoals Of
ice in The Arctic feas are commonly d.
vidcd, fcattered and ,diiiipated. But the
atmosphere is then almof continually
damp, and loaded with vapour. AT this
ieafon of the year denle fog generally
covers the furface of the fca Of milder
temperature indeed than the froa fmoke,
YET produced by tie invcrfion Of the fame
cau(-. The lower ftratum of air, as it
fucceHiyely touches the colder body of
the water, becomes chilled, and thence
diiposeG to depoGt Tvs moiture. Such
thick fogs with mere CLEANS of clear
weather, infelfing the northern seas dur
log the greater part of the fpmmer, rem
der their navigation extremely dangerous.
In the courfe of the month of May, the
fUperhcial water is at Taft brought TO an
equilibrium of temperature with the air,
and the fun now lhincs out with bright
and dazzling radiance. For Tome days
before the cloGe of the fummer, such ex--
ceilive heat is accumulated in the bays
and fh1ltered fpots, that the tar and
pitch are fometimes melted, and run
down the lhip's fdes.
The ice, which obltructs The nayiga-
ton Of the Arctic seas, consifts Of swo
very different kinds; the one produced
by the congelation Of frelh, and the 9TH
er by thar of salt water. In thofe inhoC-
pitabIe tracts, the inow which annually
falls on the Hands or continents, being
again diflolved by the progress of the
FL umer's heat, pours forth numerous
rills and limpid firearms which collects
along the indented flores, and in the
deep bays enclofed by precipitous rocks.
There, this clear and geld water foon
freezes, and every succehive year fup-
plies an additional investing crua, till
after the lapfe, perhaps Of several centu-
rie8, the icy MATS rites al laf to the size
and aspect of a mountain concentrate
with the elevation Of the adjoining cliffs.
The meitins of The Inow, which is after
wards depoGtcd on fuch enormous
blocks, likewise contributes to their
growth and BY 6lIing up the accidental
holes or crevices, it renders the whole
ftructure compact and uniform. Mean
while the principle Of dearnction has
already begun its operations the cease
less agitation Of the fea gradually wears
and undermines the bale of the icy noun
tain, till at length, by the action Gifts
own accumulated weight, when it has
perhaps attained an altitude of thou
fand, or even two thoufard feet, it is
torn from It's frozen chains, and precipita~
red. with tremendous plunge, into the
abyls below. This mighty launch now
floats like lofty iaand on the ocean I;
till driven Gou,hward by winds and cur
rents, It infensibly waites and diGolves
away in the wide atlantic.
Such we conceive TO Be the real origin
of The icy mountains or icebergs, entirely
fniiar n their formation to the glaciers
which occur on the tanks Of the Alps
and the Pyrennees. They conGft of
clear, compact and solid ice, which has
the fine green tint verging to blue, which
ice or water when very pure, and Of a.
fuficient depth, always ai1ames. From4
the Cavities Of thefe ice -bergs, the crews
of the northern whalers are aecufomed
By means of hofe, or flexible tube Of
canyafs, 10 I'll their casks easily with the
haelt and softeR water. OF the fame
fpecics of ice, the fragments which are
picked up as they float on the furface Of
the ocean. yield the adventurous nagiga-
tor the mott refrelhing beverage.
It was long disputed among the learn
ed whether the waters Of the ocean are
capable of being CONCEALED and many
frivolous and abiurd arguments, Of
coutfe, were advanced to prove the inn
possibility of the fact. But the queiion
is now completely relolved, and the
freezing of fea water is elfablilhed both
by obfervaiion and experiment. The
product however, is an imperfect fort of
ice, easily distinguifhable from the re
!ult Of regular chrystilization it is
porous, incompact and imFrtectly d.
aphanous. 1t conGls of fpicular ihoots,
or thin fakes, which detain within their
interttices the fronger brine and its