a fir anger here, and the native of a civilized country. The houfe
was fituated on an eminence, and commanded on one fide a view
o f the oppofite mountains, and the mafles: of inow with which*
they are conflantly covered ; on the other fide it afforded a prof-
p e d to the Frozen Ocean, which here penetrates into the land,
and forms a confiderable gulf, near which the houfe in quefli'on
was built. W e were delighted at finding ourfelves at fo fhort a
diflance from the objed of our journey, which was to put an end
to our toils and hardfhips-. The beautiful colour of the fea, and
the brilliant tranfparency of the waters, offered a moil pleafing
fpeclacle to our eyes ; but nothing, indeed, cheered our minds io
much as the idea of having fo far fucceeded in our enterprize.
T h e fight of mountains covered with fnow, and the name of the
Frozen Ocean, amidft a heat as great as that in Italy, heightened
the contrail between thofe oppofite circumflances, and reprefented
this place to our imagination as fomething fingular and extraordinary,
which was not to be met with in any other part of the
world. Even the very thought of having reached the Frozen
Ocean had fomething fublime in i t : to enjoy it flill farther, and
to make the moil of it, we determined to throw ourfelves into
the waves of this fea, and to recruit our exhaufled flrength by a
bath. The merchant gave us warning not to do th is ; nobody,
he faid, rifked bathing there, for fear o f fharks : but we could not
refill the ilrong inclination that impelled us, and we did venture
to plunge into the water. This, however, was fo infufferably
cold, that it was not long before we came out of it, and we felt
our
our legs fo benumbed that they were fcarcely able to fupport us
on the beach.
After dreffing ourfelves and lhaving our beards, which were of
fix days growth, we were called to dinne r; and not a little fur-
prifed to find fix different difhes, with a bottle of wine fet down
for each perfon. This profped comforted us flill more than the
view of the Frozen Ocean, and after dinner we found ourlelves
more refrefhed by the wine than we had been by the fea water.
W e thought ourfelves now in paradife, in elyfium, in an enchanted
palace. Every thing was good ; every thing was delicious
; and the keennefs of our appetite doubled the convivial and
focial pleafure. T h e merchant was a married man, and his lady
was an excellent practical cook, as well as a perfed houfewife.
They had a boy who waited a t table; and the fociety of the
houfe was increafed by the refidence of the bailiff of th a t diflrid
o f Lapland, who after the death of his wife had come to live with
the merchant, for the fake of company. T h e bailiff was a very
worthy and pleafant man, and much efleemed in this family, and
in all the diflrid. W e found ourfelves fo comfortably fituated
here, that it was not without regret we began to talk o f proceeding
in our expedition to the North Cape ; this, however, was in-
difpenfible, for it was proper and neceffary to avail ourfelves o f
the favourable feafon. W e inquired into the befl manner of performing
this route ; how many days it would require by land,
and how many by fe a ; if any one had made this journey before
u s ; and what was the diflance between the North Cape and Al-
O 2 ten f