when she shall be purged of the dross engendered by secular alliance, and Christianity reduced to its primitive standard, she will become" bright as the sun, clear as the moon, and terrible as an army with banners."

(To be concluded in our next.)

A WINTER IN NOVA ZEMBLA, ENDURED BY SOME DUTCH NAVIGATORS.

ON the 10th of August, the ice began to separate, and the seamen remarked that the berg to which they were moored was fixed to the bottom, and that all the others struck against it. Afraid that these loose pieces would collect and enclose them, they quitted their moorings, and sailed on. The ice was already forming on the surface, and the ship in sailing through made it crack on all sides. The Dutch worked on their way, mooring themselves to successive fragments, one of which rose like a steeple, being twenty fathoms above and twelve beneath the water. They saw round them more than four hundred large icebergs, the fear of which made them keep close to the shore, not aware of that being the quarter where these dangerous bodies were formed, and along which they chiefly ranged. However, they steered on, and having passed what they called Little Icy Cape, came to Orange Island, which forms the northern extremity of Nova Zembla. Here ten men swam on shore, and, having mounted several piles of ice, which rose, as it were, into a little mountain, they had the satisfaction of seeing the coast trending southward, and a wide open sea to the south-east. They hastened back to Barentz with those joyful tidings, and the success of the voyage was considered almost secure.

But these hopes were delusive. After doubling what was called Cape Desire (now Zelania), the icebergs mustered in such force, that the crews gave up all idea of doing more than reach the strait of Waygatz on their return home. They were driven, however, so rapidly before the floating masses, that three men, who had mounted one of them to reconnoitre, would have been left behind, but for extraordinary exertions of agility. They were now drawn direct into what they called Icy Port, and the vessel was thrown into a position almost perpendicular, with one end nearly touching the bottom. From this critical attitude they were relieved next day; but fresh masses of ice continually poured in, augmenting the terrible ramparts with which they were enclosed. One side of the vessel was raised by successive pieces jammed beneath it, but the other was similarly elevated; so that

the ship was lifted to the top of the ice as by machinery. All this time the cracking, both around them, on every side, and within the ship itself, was so dreadful, that they were in continual fear of its parting into fragments; but this interior cracking, arising merely from the freezing of the juices of the timber, was much less dangerous than they imagined.

The Dutch now felt that they must bid adieu for this year to all hopes of escape. from their icy prison. As the vessel was cracking continually, and opening in different quarters, they made no doubt of its going to pieces, and could hope to survive the winter only by constructing a hut, which might shelter them from the approaching rigour of the season. Parties sent into the country reported having seen footsteps of rein-deer, also a river of fresh water, and, what was more important still, a great quantity of fine trees, with the roots still attached to them, strewed upon the shore. Not one of these trees could have grown on the frozen soil of Nova Zembla; they were all brought down the rivers of Muscovy and Tartary, and wafted over the ocean by winds and currents. This circumstance gave a peculiarly cheerful colour to the hopes of the mariners. They trusted that Providence, which had in this surprising manner furnished materials to build a house, and fuel to warm it, would supply also whatever was necessary for their passing through the approaching winter, and for returning at length to their native country. A sledge was instantly constructed; three men cut the wood, while ten drew it to the spot marked out for the hut. They sought to raise a rampart of earth for shelter and security, and employed a long line of fire in the hope of softening the ground, but in vain. The carpenter having died, it was found impossible to dig a grave for him, and they lodged his body in a cleft of the rock.

The building of the hut was carried on with ardour, as affording the only hope of life; yet the cold endured in this operation was intense, and almost insupportable. When a nail was put into the mouth, it was frozen to the lip, and brought the skin away, drawing blood. The snow sometimes fell so thick, for days successively, that the seamen could not stir from under cover. They had at the same time hard and perpetual combats with the Polar bear. One day the master saw from the ship three of these furious animals running towards the working party, and gave them warning by loud cries. They immediately ran towards the vessel; when one of them, in haste, fell into a cleft in the ice, and was given up for lost; but

the bears overlooked him, and continued their pursuit of the main body. The sailors having at length reached the ship, made the circuit of it, and mounted from behind; but their pursuers entered in front, and advanced furiously to the attack. A man, seut down to the kitchen to light a match, was in too great haste and agitation to accomplish that simple process, and the mus. kets were thus useless. The crew could now parry the assault only by throwing at the bears whatever came first to hand, by which the attention of the animals was always for a moment attracted, though they returned to the charge with fresh vigour. At length, when matters seemed approaching to extremity, a halberd was darted at the largest, which struck him on the mouth with such force that he retreated, and the others followed.

Notwithstanding this intense rigour, winter had not yet thoroughly set in. Several days of south-west wind dissolved a vast quantity of ice, and they saw a wide open sea without, while the vessel was enclosed within, as it were, by a solid wall. By October they completed their hut, and prepared to convey thither their provisions and stores. Some painful discoveries were now made. Several tuns of fine Dantzic beer, of an agreeable and medicinal quality, and from which they had anticipated much comfort, had frozen so hard as to break the casks, bursting even the iron hoops by which they were held. The contents, indeed, existed in the form of ice, but this, when thawed, had merely the taste of bad water; and though in the middle they found a liquor concentrating in itself the whole strength of the beer, it had not the true flavour and character of that beverage. They made trial of mixing the two together, but without being able to restore its proper relish and virtue.

The sun, which had hitherto been their only pleasure and consolation, began now to pay only short visits, and to give signs of his approaching departure. He rose in the south-south-east, and set in the south-southwest, while the moon was scarcely dimmed by his presence. On the 1st of November his full orb was still seen for a short interval; on the 2d it rested on the horizon, from which it did not detach itself; on the 4th the sky was calm and clear, but no sun rose or set.

The dreary winter night of three months, which had now set in, was not, however, without some alleviations. The moon, now at the full, wheeled her pale but perpetual circle round the horizon. With the sun disappeared also the bear, and in his room 2D. SERIES, NO. 2.-VOL. I.

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came the Arctic fox, a beautiful little creature, whose flesh resembled kid, and furnished a variety to their meals. They found great difficulty in the measurement of time, and on the 6th rose only late in the day, when a controversy ensued whether it was day or night. The cold had stopped the movements of all the clocks, but they afterwards formed a sand-glass of twelve hours, by which they contrived tolerably to estimate their time.

On the 3d December, as the sailors lay in bed, they heard from without a noise so tremendous as if all the mountains of ice by which they were surrounded had fallen in pieces over each other. In fact, the first light which they afterwards obtained shewed a considerable extent of open sea; yet this disruption must have been produced by a merely internal movement of the ice, not by any tendency towards thaw.

As the season advanced, the cold became always more and more intense. Early in December a dense fall of snow stopped up all the passages by which the smoke could escape; so that a fire, at all fitted for the dreadful inclemency of the season, led to the danger of suffocation. The men were thus obliged to keep the room at a miserably low temperature, for which they used the imperfect remedy of heated stones, passed from one bed to another. One great trouble was how to wash their clothes; whenever they took these up from the boiling water, and began to wring them, the linen froze in their hands; and when they hung them up to dry, the side farthest from the fire was hard frozen. The cold becoming always more rigorous, ice two inches thick was formed on the walls. At length their sufferings came to such an extremity, that, casting at each other languishing and piteous looks, they anticipated that this must end in the extinction of life. They now resolved that, cost what it might, they should for once be thoroughly warmed. They repaired, therefore, to the ship, whence they brought an ample supply of coal; and having kindled an immense fire, and carefully stopped up the windows and every aperture by which the cold could penetrate, they did bring themselves into a most comfortable temperature. In this delicious state, to which they had been so long strangers, they went to rest, and talked gaily for some time before falling asleep. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, several wakened in a state of the most painful vertigo; their cries roused the rest, and all found themselves more or less in the same alarming predicament. On attempting to rise, they became dizzy, and could neither stand nor walk. At 146.-VOL. XIII.

K

length two or three contrived to stagger towards the door; bnt the first who opened it fell down insensible among the snow. De Veer, who stood behind, revived him by pouring vinegar on his face; and the wintry air, which had been their greatest dread, now restored life to the whole party. These unhappy mariners being thus compelled to afford a certain access to the wintry blast, its effects became always more and more insupportable. It seemed as if the fire had lost all power of conveying heat; their clothes were white with snow and hoarfrost; their stockings were burned before the feet felt any warmth, and this burning was announced by smell rather than by feeling. Yet, in the very midst of these sufferings, remembering that the 5th January was the Feast of the Kings, they besought the master that they might be allowed to celebrate that great Dutch festival. They had saved a little wine and two pounds of flour, with which they fried pancakes in oil; the tickets were drawn, the gunner was crowned king of Nova Zembla, and the evening passed as merrily as if they had been at home round their native fireside. Nothing can more strikingly illustrate the salutary effects produced even in these desperate circumstances by mental occupation and amusementeffects of which Captain Parry afterwards made so happy a use.

About the middle of January the crews began to experience some abatement of that deep darkness in which they had so long been involved. On throwing a bowl, they could see it run along the ground, which was before impossible. Soon after, about midday, a faint flush was seen to tinge the horizon; and this first dawn of the annual morning revived in their hearts the hope which was almost extinguished. On the 24th, De Veer and two others ran in to say, that they had seen a portion of the sun's disk. Barentz demonstrated, from the structure of the earth, that this could not take place for fifteen days. Many, however, trusted more to the eyes of their companions; and bets were taken, which could not be decided in the two following days in consequence of a heavy fog in which the air was involved. The 27th, however, being clear, they went out in a body, and saw, ascending above the horizon, the full orb of that great luminary. Joy took possession of their hearts, and Barentz in vain continued to prove, that this appearance was contrary to every principle of science. He was not aware of the extensive power of refraction in this northern air, which, in Capt. Parry's expedition, produced a similar abridgment in the duration of the Polar winter.

Affairs now assumed a more cheerful

aspect. Instead of constantly moping in the hut, the men went out daily, employed themselves in walking, running, and athletic games, which warmed their bodies and preserved their health. With the sun, however, appeared their old enemy the bear. One attacked them amid so thick a mist that they could not see to point their pieces, and sought shelter in the hut. The bear came to the door, and made the most desperate attempts to burst it open; but the master kept his back firmly set against it, and the animal at last retreated. Soon after, he mounted the roof, where, having in vain attempted to enter by the chimney, he made furious attempts to pull it down, having torn the sail in which it was wrapped; all the while his frightful and hungry roarings spread dismay through the mansion beneath; at length he retreated. Another came so close to the man on guard, who was looking another way, that, on receiving the alarm from those within, and looking about, he saw himself almost in the jaws of the bear; however, he had the presence of mind instantly to fire, when the animal was struck in the head, retreated, and was afterwards pursued and despatched.

The first appearance of the sun had inspired hopes that the weather would become continually more mild and agreeable. It was, therefore, a severe disappointment, when, in February, a heavy north-east gale brought a cold more intense than ever, and buried the hut again under snow. This was the more deeply felt, as the men's strength and supply of generous food to recruit it were alike on the decline. They no longer attempted daily to clear a road, but those who were able went out and in by the chimney. A dreadful calamity then overtook them in the failure of their stock of wood for fuel. They began to gather all the fragments which had been thrown away, or lay scattered about the hut; but these being soon exhausted, it behoved them to carry out their sledge in search of more. To dig the trees, however, out of the deep snow, and drag them to the hut, was a task which, in their present exhausted state, would have appeared impossible, had they not felt that they must do it or perish.

In the course of March and April the weather became milder, and the attention of all the crew was drawn to plans and prospects of return. Southward, on the side of Tartary, the icy masses were still floating, but to the north-east there was an immense open sea. Yet the barriers which enclosed the ship not only continued, but, to their inexpressible grief, rapidly increased, pro

bably from the fragments which floated in upon the breaking up of the great exterior mass. In the middle of March these ramparts were only 75 paces broad, in the beginning of May they were 500. These piles of ice resembled the houses of a great city, interspersed with apparent towers, steeples, and chimneys. The sailors, viewing with despair this position of the vessel, earnestly entreated permission to fit out the two boats, and in them to undertake the voyage homeward. The master at length agreed, provided there was no better prospect by the end of May. From the 20th to the 26th a north wind came on, and blew upon them a still greater quantity of ice; so that they no longer hesitated to begin their work, and to bring from the ship sails and cordage. The mere digging of the boats from under the snow was a most laborious task, and the equipment of them would have been next to impossible, but for the enthusiasm with which it was undertaken. By the 11th of June, they had the vessels fitted out, their clothes packed, and the provisions embarked. Then, however, they had to cut a way through the steeps and walls of ice which intervened between them and the open sea. Amid the extreme fatigue of digging, breaking, and cutting, they were kept in play by a huge bear which had come over the frozen sea from Tartary.

At length the crew having embarked all their clothes and provisions, set sail on the 14th with a westerly breeze. In the three following days they passed the Cape of Isles, Cape Desire, and came to Orange Isle, always working their way through much encumbering ice. As they were off Icy Cape, Barentz, long struggling with severe illness, and now feeling his end approach, desired himself to be lifted up, that he might take a last view of that fatal and terrible boundary, on which he gazed for a considerable time.

On the following day, the vessels were again involved amid masses of drift-ice, and were so forcibly struck, as well as squeezed between opposite fields, that the men had bid a final adieu to each other. Seeing, however, a body of fixed ice at a little distance, De Veer took a rope, and leaped from fragment to fragment, till he arrived on the firm surface. A communication thus formed, they landed first the sick, then the stores and provisions, and, finally, they drew the boats themselves upon the ice. During this detention, Barentz being informed of the severe illness of one Adrianson, said, that he himself was not far from his end. As he continued, however, conversing and looking on a chart of the voyage made by De Veer, it

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was thought that his disease could not be so serious, till he pushed aside the chart, asked for a draught of water, and immediately expired. This event extremely affiicted the crews, both from their personal attachment to Barentz, and the loss of his skill in piloting the vessels.

The sailors, with some drift-wood, repaired the boats; the ice, however, was still close around, and they were struck with the fear that they would never escape from this bank, but must perish upon it. On the 22d, however, there appeared open sea at a little distance, and having dragged the boats over successive pieces of ice, they were again afloat. In the three following days they reached Cape Nassau, the ice frequently stopping them, but opening again like the gates of a sluice, and allowing a passage. On the 26th, they were obliged once more to disembark and pitch their tents on the frozen surface. On the opposite coast they saw immense herds of sea-cows, (walrus,) and the air darkened with numberless birds. While they were fast asleep in the tent, the sentinel called out, "Three bears! three bears!" The whole crew were instantly out; their muskets were charged only with small shot for birds; however, "these sweetmeats," though they could not inflict any serious wound, induced the monsters to turn, when one of them was pursued and killed. The dead bear was carried off in the mouth of one of the survivors to the most rugged parts of the ice, where the two devoured a large portion of his carcass.

The year was now advanced; the bright light of the sun and the occasional southwesterly breezes dissolved the ice, and gradually opened a way before them. It brought, however, dangers of a new class. The distinction between fixed and floating ice had now almost ceased, the former melting continually away. As they thought themselves lying secure on a large field, a body of icebergs came in from the open sea, struck and dashed it to pieces. The packages were separated from the boats, and several dropped into the water. It was laborious to scramble over the detached fragments to a place of safety, while the weighty articles sank into the softened ice, not without the greatest risk of falling to the bottom. For twelve hours the sailors floundered through this loose and broken surface before they could establish themselves on the field which was attached to the land.

The 2d of July was the finest day yet seen in Nova Zembla; and the weather continuing favourable, produced on the 7th an open sea, to which, with great labour,

the men succeeded in dragging the boats. From this time their progress, though often obstructed, was never entirely stopped. In several of the rocky bays they caught an immense number of birds, these poor animals not having yet learned to fear man, and allowing themselves to be taken by the hand. Near Admiralty Bay they saw two hundred sea-cows lying on a bank of ice, and attacked them; but these powerful animals advanced to the combat, snorting and blowing in so tremendous a manner, that, had not a fresh wind sprung up, the mariners might have been in a serious predicament; and they repented bitterly, amid so many inevitable evils, to have brought on themselves one so very unnecessary.

On the 28th, after passing the bay of St. Lawrence, when they approached to the southern extremity of Nova Zembla, the navigators discovered, with surprise and joy, two Russian vessels at anchor. They approached, and were received with the usual courtesy of that nation.-Edinburgh Cabinet Library, vol. i.

NOTES ON SIR HUMPHRY DAVY'S TWELFTH LECTURE, DELIVERED IN DUBLIN, NOVEMBER 29TH, 1810.

Sulphur and phosphorus in the Voltaic circle are negative.-Sulphur is positive to acid, and acid negative to sulphur.

Sulphur and phosphorus are non-conductors in a cold state: electricity only acts on them when in fusion. The electric spark passed through fluid sulphur in a glass tube, produced fire and light, and the emission of gas consisting of sulphuretted hydrogen.

Both sulphur and phosphorus contain inflammable air; there is reason to expect a small quantity of oxygen in them. This is proved by potasium. Exper. A little tray of platina, put into an exhausted retort, with a bit of potasium and sulphur on the tray, kindles into light, by the heat of a candle, or lamp: hence the sulphur has oxygen; for if it had not, the hydrogen would weigh less after, than the loss of the sulphur and phosphorus in the combustion, which is not the case. Potasium and phosphorus, in an exhausted retort, do not inflame as sulphur: it forms a new compound in water, viz. acid of phosphorus, which gives phosphorus and hydrogen. The latter is proved by its inflammability, hence phosphorus contains some oxygen.

Oxygen, muriate of potash, and phosphorus, having the sulphuric acid poured to the bottom through a tunnel, burns under

water.

Oxygen makes mercury a non-conductor; hydrogen makes charges of the electric spark take effect.

Phosphorus and sulphur, if free from hydrogen and oxygen, may become metals. Charcoal is an earthly alkali. The diamond is said to be pure carbon: it produces carbonic acid, by combustion with oxygen. Plumbago is the pure carbon. Diamond only relates to charcoal, as both stones and earths are metallic oxids. The diamond powder by combustion with potasium yielded oxygen, and became black like plumbago. All metals are comprised of charcoal and oxygen. Hence the diamond, which is a stone, forms a link in the chain, and is carbon by analogy.

All inflammable things are brought into combustion, either by oxygen or oxygenized muriatic acid.

Boracic and fluoric acids were not decomposed till lately by electricity. Boracic acid is a non-conductor, but by water it takes the electric charge; and when poured on a plate of platina, on the negative side was a dark inflammable substance which is a nonconductor, and prevents the perfection of the separation, but by burning this, boracic acid is reproduced, which is permeable to water, though not combined with it. The lecturer tried if potasium would aid the decomposition. He put it in a tube with moist boracic acid; it burned with a green light, reproducing potash, and the base of boracic acid, in a red heat. This borax being washed with salt and acid, became pure. It dissolves in acids, sulphuric gas, nitric gas, and combines with sulphur.

In a retort of oxygen gas, it burns and reproduces boracic acid.

This is a new matter, and a combination never formed before 1807: it hardens copper, and can be made of iron by white heat, but not pure.

The fluoric acid discovered by Scheele, is never pure; if made with lead, it has water combined; if with glass or silicious earth, by the electric spark it yields dense white fumes! With silex and borax it forms fluo-boracic, and by the spark fluosilex.

With potasium, the fluo-silex gas decomposes it, and makes a fawn-coloured base of fluoric acid.-Exper. A bit of potasium in an exhausted receiver, then filled with fluoric acid gas heat, makes combustion, which leaves the base behind.

A body which resists decomposition, is one whose combination is most attractive. Hence refractory bodies have the strongest play of affinity.

In the last lecture some persons conceived