R ussian
I sles.
as hard, and minute as fine fand» About the firff oFNovember the fun
fets, and appears no moré till the beginning of February; and after the
beginning of May it-never fets till Auguft. -rGöals are found inw Spitz-
hèrgeh,-but even the vales are covered with èférriali&ê^ÖT fnow. The
only tree is the dwarf willow, which fifes" to the height of two .inches,
towering with great pride above the moffesj and lichens, and a. few
other cumbent plants. I Mere are found polar bears, foxes, and rein-
deer* with walrufes, and feals* There are a few kinds of water ftriVp;
but the whale is the lord of thefe fhallóWdèas. The’ Ruffians from
Archangel maintain a kind of colony ; and that northern region feems
indeed to have a natural right ; to Spitzbergen;. , 'Tó.thè N. >Ej of .ihis
dreary .greupe are the fmall ifles, called itbesSkveft Sifters, Itheumsaft
ar£tic land yet difeovered; and the dangers which Mr. Phipps, .afterwards
Lord Mulgrave, fuffered- near the Seven Sifters • are well deferibed
hr the account of his voyage, r