Wheeling compiler. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [i.e. W. Va.]) 1829-1831, 1830-06-23

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ihe Cordilleras, where pyramids Of ice are
found IN winter more than eight hundred
iathoms high.
1t Is then certain that the islands OF
hoatlng ice, which are undoubtedly detach-
ed from the polar mass, are no more form
ed IN the sea by the reunion of their wrecks,
than the avalanches which fall from the
snowy regions Of our mountains are by the
valleys into which they are hurled.
It Is more probable that when the earth
presents her southern hemisphere to the
sun, yet upon the equator, the refactionof
Ib's star already acts upon her pole under
an angle ola degree and a half at least;
hat then the d,lation of the polar atmos-
pierre occasioned by his rays draw the
wam winds Of the torrd zone, and, in
shrt, the waves Of the sea driven by these
wlhs against the sides and bases Of the
Icyome, pierce in il profound caverns,
an suspend enormous masses 10 the air
IPse effects have been observed in the
ice OF the north pole, of which vast por-
tics are cut into arcades by the action
ofhe waves, and are known toscamen by
tmnamc Of ice bergs.-In short, whether
orlot nature employs, to effect this nigh
tylemOllton, the subterranean ocean, the
hei OF which Is most premature, we find
tioiiDg ice bcrgs about The pole even be-
forethe vernal equinox. These masses,
loo5lg their inferior portions by their more
pUdlssOlution, fall into tire sea below
with tremendous crash
Met ofthem rear their heads some two
or thlt hundred feet above the surface Of
the seaiand are submerged TO Two or three
thousan, more,--for the relation Of the
weight dice to water, according TO philo
;ophers, as 9 to 10. These floating
masses haze usually league or two OF
circumference. Captain Cook has often
seen 30 or40 within the compass of tho
horizon at Ae same time.
We may imagine hence how many there
may have BEEN floating around the mighty
mass from WHICH they had broken off,
Surprising it only oC 900 leagues in cir
conference, and reducing each horizon
containing It 10 but one league in diameter
!. for Cook assures US that Of thu iogS apd
mists arc GO dense tbut he could nUt from
one part Of the ship see a man in the oppo-
site part and we shall have nine hundred
horizons, each enclosing 40 isles OF zee
Here are then $4,000 ice bergs each one
league in circumference, two thousand feet
below the surface o. the sea and rising IN
the air 200 leet-Add to this a sea GOV
cred with the wrecks Of shattered ice bergs
which form, as Coolexpresses it, fields Of
ice of several leagues in extent
Presently tie sun embraces with his rec
fires and gilds the vast icy dome Of the
austral pole, tumuItuous torrents furrow Il
INTO profound chasms, and pour dowr
from every SIDE.
The general current starts from tho
base of the frozen mass, and DIVORCES tC
the equator.
Ii advances toward this circle by TIE
force of the evaporation of the tropical
aud even of the icy oceans, which lower
inn their level, oE necessity attract 1t; The
Ilnciplent current Of the south advances a
against The expiring current Of the north.
Two oceans and TWO aimOspheres dis
Dute the empire Of the waves. Inflated 1:
the ship which is then far from the proec
lion of port. With what terror her crew
behold her yielding TO the fury ofthe bll
/ lows Yawning gulPhs open in the wayct
and heaps of ioamiug water break high j
bove the masts.
Ali then ii is that the most fearless sea
man makes his tardy vows, and regrets
the tranquil security of home.-And, in
deed, how could he be otherwise than sha
ken by the terrible couvulsions of the sea,
wien the marine birds themselves, WIT
| live amid its storms, fear and fee for shel
teri During the equinoctial days they
speed to land, and, squatting about lh'
shores, or plungirg into the creviccs o
rocks, they await the termination Of til,
tempest, half dead and covered up witt
spray and sand.
In the mean time the polar ices and th'
general current by which they are urgeC
on, and which precedes them, prevail IL
the Atlantic Ocean and arc reflected west
ward by Cape Horn, and east ofthe Cap
of Good Hope. This current produces
two tides in II hours 10 the vast chanue
Of the Atlantic which has an embouchur,
Of AZ deg. OF latitude and 100 Of longi
tude. The seas then which descend from
, the pole accompanied by slccts and snow.
beat in everlasting surges against the coas
Of Patagonia, and make It's cherries sum
mel ruder than our winters. The floating
icebergs seldom advance beyond the lati
iiude Of the Cape Of Good Hope, and ar,
rarely seen so high.-NcyerlheIess an En-
glish vessel leaving the roadstead Of th'
Cape on her way TO Botany Bay, encoun
taroJ th, r;obt . ipr her deDarftire n cav