is generally o f but a brittle texture, breaks it, and fuddenly fall*
into the water, which bubbles up all about the fledge, nor does it
flop till it gets to the fecond layer o f ice. This unexpected fall
produces a horrible fenfation; and though there are rarely more
than two feet o f diftance from one ftratum o f ice to the other, yet
the fight o f the water, the plunging o f the horfe, &c. are exceedingly
alarming.
In our travels on the ice we fell in with filhermen who ufe the
hook and b a it : they fometimes flopped, and amufed us by Ihew-
ing us the fiih they had caught. Their figure was a great curio-
fity to us : they fcour over the ice in long wooden pattens, and
ihove themfelves along with a pole they hold in their hand. The
velocity o f their progrefs is almoft incredible; and the wonderful
celerity o f motion in their bodies, without the fmalleft preceptible
a<ftion in their legs (for they ufe only their arms), forms a very
ftriking fight to a perfon beholding them for the firft time. When
employed in fiflnng, they exhibit a very curious picture, on account
o f the contraft which is obfervable in all thofe objeds. They
carry along with them a fmall triangular fail, which, when they
have occafion to remain long feated on the ice, they fpread, in
order to fhelter them from the wind. Having perforated the ice
with a kind o f chifel, which makes a part o f their apparatus, they
plunge the hook into the fea to the depth o f about thirty fe e t:
i f the cold happens to be fomewhat fevere, they are obliged to be
continually ftirring the water at the orifice o f the hole to prevent
its freezing. W e witneffed feveral lucky dips o f the fifhermen s
hooks,
hooks, and we did not leave them till we had caught fome fiih
ourfelves. Afterwards, wiihing to try whether we could run on
the ice with their pattens, we afforded no fmall diverfion to thofe
good people by our awkward manner o f ufing them, as well as
by feveral falls, which were more amufing to the fpedators than
agreeable to the performers.
You meet often in thofe parts with what may be termed dif-
ruptions o f the ice, which form a ftrange pidurefque appearance,
fometimes refembling the ruins o f an ancient caftle. T he caufe
o f thefe difruptions is the rocks, which happen to be at the depth
o f fome feet under the furface o f the water. During the prevalence
o f the intenfe cold, the water freezes frequently three feet
or more in thicknefs; the elevation o f the fea is confequently di-
miniihed, and finks in proportion to the diameter o f the ice that
is formed: then thofe ihelves and rocks overtop the furface, and
break the cohefion o f the ice, while accident depofits the detached
mattes and fragments in a thoufand irregular forms. It is extremely
dangerous to traverfe the ice in thofe parts during night,
unlefs you have the compafs conftantly in your hand, and even
with it you are not always fafe. T h e traveller is frequently interrupted
by thofe o b f ta c le sh e often lofes fight o f the coaft,
while the whitenefs o f the fnow dazzles his eyes, and makes it
extremely difficult to difcern the traces o f the fledges which have
patted that way before: thus he is in no fmall danger o f lofing
the road, and o f going on in a different diredion, which may lead
K k 2 him