o c e a n . B r o s s e s , * o f a: great Southern continent, founded on the argument,
that in cafe there' fhpuld be no more land in the Southern;
hemifphere, than what we knew before, it would be infufficient to
• counterpoife, the weight o f lands-in-the Northern. An ingenious
author, whofe difinterefted zealMbr the promotion o f geography,
navigation and difcoveries , is not lefs, confpicuous, than his- many
virtues as a man, a citizen and a friend, has lately -!• endeavoured.-,
to fet thefe arguments in a ftronger light,. Our prefent circumna,
vigation has,. I believe,, put it beyond doubt, that there is no land
on this fide o f 60° in. the Southern hemifphere,. i f we except- the,
feyv inconfiderable fragments we-found, in the Southern adantic
ocean. I f therefore we ihould even-, fuppofe-, that; the whole {pace
from 60° and upwards,, where-we. have not been, be intirely occur-
pied by land,, this would be Hill.too. inconfiderable to. counterpoife
the lands o f the Northern hemifphere.. I am therefore apt to.fufi-
peft, that nature has provided, againft this defeft, - by placing perhaps
at the bottom of the Southern ocean fuc-h bodies as .by their,
fpecific weight will compenfete the deficiency o f lands; i f this
fyftem o f .the wanted counterpoife be at all neceflary. But there
may perhaps, he other methods to- obviate this defeit, o f which our
narrow knowledge-and experience have not yet informed us..
S e c t .
. . * Modern Ufiivcrfal HJlory, Folio Ed it, vol, V . p. 2. note c. ox 8vo edit, vol, XI, p. 275.
Voyages aux Ferres Atifl'rales, v„l. I, p. 13.
-j- Dalrymple’s collection o f voyages to the South-Sea-, vol, p.
1 Se c t ; IV . I C E a n d i t ' s F O R M A T I O N .
T V T O T H IN G appeared more ftrange to the feveral navigators in
y high latitudes, than the firfl; fight of the immenfe mafles of
icfi which.are found floating in the ocean ; and I. mull confefs, that
though I had read a great many accounts on their nature, figure,
formation and .magnitude, I was however very much ffruek by their
fir-ft appearance. Th e real grandeur o f the fight by far furpafled any
thing I could, expedtj ' for we' faw fometimes iflands o f ice o f .
one or two miles extent,.and at. the fame'time a hundred feet
or upwards above, water. . W.e will fuppofe,, that ice o f pa ra l--
lei, dimenfions , fwimming in fea-water,. only fhews one part out
o f ten above water -j-; which is a . moderate fuppofition, becaufe
according to. Mairan J ice fwimming in frelh. water had o n e -
fourteenth part, o f the whole above its furface; nay, Dr. Irving
§ plunged a piece, of. the moft folid ice in melted fnow water and
fourteen fifteenth parts funk under its level. A piece therefore,
o f only one mile in length,, a quarter of- a mile in breadth, and
100 feet above water contains 696 960,0.00 cubic feet of folid ice; .
but as the 100 feet, are only the contents.of the ice above water,
the fame muft be taken nine, times more, for the contents under
water,,
•j- Boyle'Pbibf. Franf. No 6 ir
; j Mairan fu r la glace p. 264.
§ A voyage towards the North Pole by Gapt. Phipps. Appendix, p. 141».