Mofleoe, are alfö iflands and rocks, againft which the ftrearn breaks;
among thefe, particularly, is the ifland Skarholm, which may be
taken for Ch'arybdis.
The ancient geographers are known to havehadfome information
o f fca-vprtices in the north, .and according to their opinion,
lying under thé north-pole, as Jacobus Cnöxén o f Bpfcoduh, in
-his Itinerarium, and Mercator in his Atlas, pretend, whofe opinions
alfo Bettius has followed, and given a reprefeiitation o f fome
fea-abyflês under the north-pole, together with.an ifland, which
he calls R uft; but as we -are now fenfible that tliere is no going
within feveral degrees o f the north-pole, on account o f thé extréme
cold, and o f the ice-mountafos; therefore this feafobyfs, o f which
they had heard, can be no other than this Mofkoeftrom, which
lies no farther north than a little beyond the fixty-èighth 'decree ;
and the navigators, who frequent the more northern feas,; have
hitherto met with no other vortices. And as for the ifland; Ruft,
hear which this* fea-vörtex is placed, the flmilitude o f the name
rfhews -irto be th e ifland Roeft, which is but four;Norway' milpg
from the Molkoeftrom. I This ifland o f Ruft, may poffiblybe the
fame nefs,- or cape; iri the north; to which Pliny gives the" name
o f Rubeas. . pj
Ulyflcs afterwards reports, that ten days :aftef failing by Cha-
rybdis, he came to the ifland Ogygia, which he défcribès, as divided
by four rivers; each haviiig its partiail'ar outlet. This're-
markably correlponds with the ifland Hinde', which is fo fotef-
fc&ed by deep creeks, in the fbuth, north, and eaft parts, as' to be
divided* into'four part^ “Of Whieh" th e fouthem. belongs to Salten,
both the weftem parts to Lofoden arid Wefteraalen; h id the'north
part to Sennien. One o f thefe creeks is called Oeguri'lrordy 'for
Agisfiord, an appellation which has fome affinity with tH^t'of
Ogygia ; and that Ulylfes, whofe name ;Uas Outin; lived fevtn
years in this ifland, married and had children there, agrees with
the account o f our chronicles concerning Outin, where His genea-
logy is called Haleigatal, becaufe his defeendants lived in Hafoga-
:land, from which Outin’s Hagen Ladejarl derives h il origin, and
according to Sturlefen, this genealogy has thenCe obtained the
name o f Haleigatal.
Plutarch,
Plutarch, likewife; in his treatife IJe-Facie in orbe Lunas, makes
mention o f fome Grecian people, who lived in. tire iflands o f the
north, where the fun was vifible for* thirty days together; and
did not; during that time, , defeend ibpvfe an hour beneath the
horizon. This can be applicable to no other ifland^, than' thbfe
in Helleland and Salten; for to. this prefent time, neither fo the
eaft or weft, has any ifland been difeovered, with any fucli phse- I
nomena; but on" the ifland of: Dum, i ifo Helleland, the fon, in
fummer, about the longeft day,'fe'?l p 3aUy;feeh bothfoSy" arid night;
which fliews thisdflaqd’ho''Kerin fhe?6h’ ‘i'foegrefounder the arftic
polar; circle, -where.the frigid zone begins; but the farther orie
advances towards the north, the higher the fun is feen.at mid-1
night, - above the horizon. It is very poffible IBiSt jMiny fo igh f
have mtelligunce o f this ifland o f Dufh/'Tf '.that?,' ' whiJh.foe,calls
Durrrna, be the’-yei^/fame ‘ifland. Arid’ whfen Plutarch fuftjifo I
writes, that thee GreeksJ ori ,that ifland/foere'.pSrfohsfof ■ abftenifoiis
lives, and accounted a rpoft venerable^^e, tfos1 taffies ,v^th Strifo'
lefen’s relation o f Outin, and his retiring foffieiy/ thafohey g ere
held to* be. gods, and that divine honours’ were > paid tofohemvffj
So far I have cited from Mr.,-Ramus..
' Another remarkable particular in the Waters o f the'north1, and
withal, to me mor,e unaccountable, than what has hitherto’ been
mentioned Of the Molkoeftrom, is the Kulftrom, p^ieiVcalledt I
four Norway miles off Bergen, fo the parifh o f Lfodaas,..running
betwixt the continent and many finall iflands, and to which we
may properly apply thefmbtto, temper ‘CQntrarm ^ ^ / from 'th e |
continual ©ppofttfon? Qf^its^eQutie -to that of'.others, v flowing when
they- ebb, and ebbing at; their floods. ’ Whether this irregularity-
be mvfog toithe- length o f its courfe, iri feveral fmallychahnefs Tfe-
tween the iflands, the.water being fo long detforiedias-potto ebb,
till it returns frQjn $he_fea in .office, places, /or\wh&,o^Svb|lfo 1
further experiehefomay. foggeft, ' I pafs avei^ % |c lu d ip g , with
this admonition, .that on this Kulftrom, the inadydrtefocy,fo f a The Kui-
pilot is extremely dapgerousfobf^which' thfoef urhs-(©iicC amelan-
?h°ly foftance in ,the Jqfs for feven nqrtlrlahd barks.
P art T. . A a SECT,