The Wilmingtonian, and Delaware register., 1825-08-25

the regular government of which they we're
50 long deprived.
lex ISLANDS AND lCEBERGs.
This name Of Ice Island is bestowed by
seamcu or the huge solid masses Of ice
which float on the seas near or within the
Polar circles. Many of these tluctuating
islands are met with on the coasts Of SpitZ-
bergen, TO the great danger If the vessels
EN- 3loyed III the greenland fishery IN the
midst ot these tremendous masses. naVigd-
tors have been arrested and frozen to death.
In this mannc~ the brave Sir Hugh VIII
longhbv persisted with all his Grew IL 1855,
and in the wear 1873, Lord Mulgr4yc, atycr
cry effort which the most accomplished
seamcn could make, 70 reach tho ternia2-
tion Of his voyage, Was Caught IN the Ice,
and nearly experienced the sYrlc fate
rhr scene he describes, dyested Of the h-r-
rors attendant on the cvcuttul expectation 0t
the change. was mos, beautiful and picture
csquc Two large Ships bccaimca il a vast
bason surrounded on All sides by ice isi.nls
ot various forms, the weather cear the sna
gliding the circumambient ice, which WIS
lo@, smooth, and even covered with snow,
except where 20 Is Of water, on q portion
Of the surf ,'shot forth H"w icy crystals,
and the smooth surfacc Vi the comparative
" small space 81 sea in which they were
henmed. Such is the picture drawn by our
navigator, amid the perils BY which he wa,
sarrouaiel
After fruitcss attempts to force their way
through the fields OF ice, the limits Of these
became at length So contracted that the
ships were mmoveaby fixed. the smouth
extent Of surface was soon lost; the pres
sure ofthc pieces 81 ice, by the liolc4cr ot
the swell. caused them to pack; and frag-
meat rose on fragment, until thev were y.
many places higher than the maiurarl
lhc movements ot the ships were trclcHd-
opS and involuntary, il conjunction with tho
surrounding ice, actulted BY the currents.
The water having sholed 70 fourteen fl.h-
oms. great apprchensions were entertained,
as thc Cr9undiug ot the ice, Or Of tbe SHIPS,
would have been equaily fltai; tie farce Of
TIE iCc might have crushed them t. atoms.
or have lifted them out II the water, and
have oyersut theai; nr, again, have lclt chem
Suspended on the submits Of the pieces Of
ice III a tremendous height, exposed 70 the
fury If the winds, cr "a the ri,s of being
dashed IN piece, pv the iailure ot rhe!r irnz-
en deck. .\u attenpt WAS made to GU, a
passage thre' the ice; but aftera perscyer-
ancc truiy worthy Of BritonS, 1t proved incf
fcctual. Ilc commander, v, was At all
times master Of himself directed t,4r boats to
BE made ready 10 be haned over the ice,
till they should r.ach navi5sbl- water, pro
posing in them Ia make the voyage to Eng
land hut after they had taus been drawn
over the ice, tQr three progressive davs il
wind having sprung up, the ice separated
sufficiently to vicld t. the pressure Of the
ships in full sail. After having labouret!
against TIE resisting fields Of ice, they at
length reached the harbour of Smccringbcrg
al the west end Of SpitzSergen.
The vast islands ot floating ice which a.
bound in tho hirh southern latitudes, are :,
proof that they are visited by a much se-
yerer degree of cold than an equal latitude
towards the north pole. Capt. Coos, in his
second VOYAGE, fsll in with one of those isl
ands in latitude ) . degrees 10 minutes saa'h.
1t was about fiftv feet high, and hat a mile
in circuit, being fat ON the top, while its
sites sgainst which the sea broke exceed
agIy high. rose in 4 pcrpendlculnr direction,
In the afternoon ot the same day, the 10th
u December, l775, he fell in with another
large cuhical mas, Of ice about tive Thousand
fret IL length. four hundred feet in breadth
az, in height Two hundred feet. Mr.. Fas-
ter, the naturalist Of the voyage, remark
that according 10 the experiments Of boyl(
and Marian, the volume Of ice is to that q
sea water nearly Is 10 to 9; Consequently by
the known rules of hydrostatics, the volumS
Of ice which rises above the surface Of Ii,
water, is to that which sinks below it as t
9. Supposing therefore, this n ass of ice t
have been of a regular figure its depth un
der water must have been 1900 feet, and it
, whole height 2CO0 feet estimating its length
as above, at oo00 feet, and its breadth at 40
feet the entire mass mast have coatane
1900 million OF cubic feet OF ice.
Analogous to the ice fields described above
/. are those large bodies OF ice, named Iceberg:
, which ill the vallies between the hg
! mountains in northern latitudcs. Among til
: most remarkable are those Of the east Goa:
. OF Spitzbcrgen They arc seven IN numbel
f and lie at considerable distances from eac
, other, extending through tracts unknown,