CHAPTER IV.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE ATMOSPHEROLOGY OF THE ARCTIC REGIONS, PARTICULARLY RELATING TO SPITZBERGEN AND THE ADJACENT GREENLAND SEA.
In treating of the subject of this chapter, our remarks shall, in the first instance, relate to theclimate of the Arctic Regions and the general effects of cold. In the autumn and spring seasons, the climate of Spitzbergen and its adjacent sea is variable and tempestuous. The temperature passes through its extreme range, which, probably, exceeds fifty degrees in the same season, or even in the same month, with a rapidity unknown in countries situate within the temperate zones. North, west, and east winds bring with them the extreme cold of the icy regions immediately surrounding the Pole, whilst a shift of wind to the south-west, south, or south-east, elevates the temperature towards that of the neighbouring seas.
An arctic winter consists of the accumulation of almost everything among atmospheric phenomena that is disagreeable to the feelings, together with the privation of those bounties ofHeaven with which other parts of the earth, in happier climates, are so plentifully supplied. During the whole of the winter months, the cheering rays of the sun are neither seen nor felt, and there are occasional storms of wind and snow.
The most severe cold, says Crantz, that occurs in Greenland, sets in, as in temperate climates, “after the new year; and is so piercing in February and March, that the stones split in twain, and the sea reeks like an oven.” On the return of the sun, the months of May, June, and August, are even occasionally pleasant; but with July, and partially with June and August, the densest fogs prevail, which are more depressing to the spirits than even intense cold.
The temperature of the atmosphere, when the fogs prevail, is generally near the freezing point, and is not above three or four degrees higher at midday than at midnight, and sometimes does not vary above a degree or two for several days together. But, in the spring and winter seasons, the temperature is subject to very great and rapid alterations, which are frequently simultaneous with the greatest changes of pressure. This renders the thermometer a valuable appendage in the prognostication of the weather.
The great depression of temperature which takes place in the proximity of ice with a northerly wind, appears equally as considerableto the feelings in low as in high latitudes. As great a degree of cold as ever I noticed in a series of twelve years’ observations (once excepted) was in latitude 71¼°, April 12, 1814, when the mean of three thermometers indicated zero; and, on the same occasion, during an interval of three days, the mean temperature was less than 5°. The wind in the mean time was continually blowing from the north-eastward, generally blowing a gale, but sometimes moderate. On the 25th of April, 1813, in latitude 8°, the thermometer fell to 4°, during a hard gale from the north-east, but on account of the ship being driven away from the ice it soon rose to 10° or 15°. The effect of the ice in reducing the temperature is so considerable, that our proximity to it is often announced by the coldness before it can be seen. In this manner, the difference of a few leagues in position sometimes produces a surprising increase of cold.
The Greenland sailors, being well defended from external cold by a choice selection of warm clothing, generally support the lowest temperature, after a few days’ habitude, without much inconvenience. When, however, its attacks are not gradual, as when a ship, which has attained the edge of the ice, under a southerly gale, is exposed suddenly to a northerly breeze, the change of temperature is so great and rapid, that the most hardy cannot conceal their uneasiness under its first impression. Onone occasion, in the year 1814, there was between the time of my leaving the deck at night and arising the following morning an increase in the cold of about 20°. This remarkable change was attended with singular effects. The circulation of the blood was accelerated, a sense of parched dryness was excited in the nose; the mouth, or rather lips, were contracted in all their dimensions, as by a sphincter, and the articulation of many words was rendered difficult and imperfect; indeed, every part of the body was more or less stimulated or disordered by the severity of the cold. The hands, if exposed, would have been frozen in a few minutes, and even the face could not have resisted the effects of a brisk wind, continued for any length of time. A piece of metal, when applied to the tongue, instantly adhered to it, and could not be removed without its retaining a portion of the skin; iron became brittle, and such as was at all of inferior quality might be fractured by a blow; brandy, of English manufacture and wholesale strength, was frozen; quicksilver, by a single process, might have been consolidated; the sea, in some places, was in the act of freezing, and, in others, appeared to smoke, and produced, in the formation offrost-rime, an obscurity greater than that of the thickest fog.
The subtle principle of magnetism seemed to be, in some way or other, influenced by the frost, for the deck compasses became sluggish,or even motionless, while a cabin compass traversed with celerity. The ship became enveloped in ice; the bows, sides, and lower rigging, were loaded; and the rudder, if not repeatedly freed, would, in a short time, have been rendered immovable. A considerable swell at this time prevailing, the smoke in the cabin, with the doors closed, was so intolerable, that we were under the necessity of giving free admission to the external air to prevent it. The consequence was, that, in front of a brisk fire, at the distance of a yard and a half from it, the temperature was 25°; water spilt on the table froze, and, indeed, congelation took place in one situation at the distance of only two feet from the stove. Hoar-frost, also, appeared in the sailors’ bed-cabins, arising from their breath, and was deposited upon their blankets.
Under such a temperature, the whale-fishery could not be prosecuted, for nature could not sustain continued exposure to the pungent force of the wind. With a calm atmosphere, however, the sensible effects of cold are singularly diminished; the cold of zero then becomes equally supportable with the temperature of 10, 15, or even 20 degrees, when impressed by a brisk wind; hence, the sensations produced on the body become a very equivocal criterion for estimating the degree of cold.
The effect of cold in preventing the traversing of compasses, exposed to its influence, hasbeen noticed by some navigators. As a remedy against this inconvenience, Ellis, in his voyage to Hudson’s Bay, suggests the propriety of removing the compasses into a warm place, by which the needles speedily resume their activity. I have found, by experiments, that neither the attractive nor directive power of the magnet suffers diminution by an increase of cold. There appears, however, to be an increase of friction, or the introduction of some unknown principle, which, when the degree of cold is very much increased, occasions a diminution in the mobility of magnetic needles.
Many remarkable effects of cold are related in the journals of Polar navigators. Captain James, when wintering in Hudson’s Bay, latitude 52° north, experienced such cold, that, on the 10th December, many of the sailors had their noses, cheeks, and fingers, frozen as white as paper. Ellis, who wintered in the same region, latitude 57° 30′, found, by the 3rd of November, bottled beer, though wrapped in tow, and placed near a good, constant fire, frozen solid. Many of the sailors had their faces, ears, and toes frozen; iron adhered to their fingers; glasses used in drinking stuck to the mouth, and sometimes removed the skin from the lips or tongue; and a sailor, who inadvertently used his finger for stopping a spirit-bottle in place of a cork, while removing it from the house to his tent, had his finger fast frozen in the bottle, in consequence ofwhich a part of it was obliged to be taken off to prevent mortification.
A Hamburgh whaler, beset by the ice, near Spitzbergen, in the year 1769, was exposed to great danger. The effect of the frost was such, that the seams in the ship’s sides cracked with a noise resembling the report of a pistol. These openings at first rendered the vessel very leaky, but after she got free from the ice, and into a milder climate, they again closed.
In the interesting narrative, by Pelham, of the preservation of eight seamen, who were accidentally left in Spitzbergen, in the year 1630, and wintered there, are some remarks on the effects of cold. The sea of the bay, where they took up their abode, froze over on the 10th of October. After the commencement of the new year, the frost became most intense; it raised blisters in their flesh as if they had been burned with fire, and if they touched iron at such times it would stick to their fingers like bird-lime. Sometimes, when they went out of doors to procure water, they were seized in such a way by the cold, that their flesh felt as sore as if they had been cruelly beaten.
The effects of cold at Disco, as observed by M. Paul Egedé, on the 7th January, 1738, and recorded by David Crantz, in his History of Greenland, are too striking to be omitted. “The ice and hoar-frost,” says Egedé, “reach through the chimney to the stove’s mouth, without being thawed by the fire in the day-time.Over the chimney is an arch of frost, with little holes, through which the smoke discharges itself. The doors and walls are as if they were plastered over with frost, and, which is scarcely credible, beds are often frozen to the bedsteads. The linen is frozen in the drawers, the upper eider-down bed and the pillows are quite stiff with frost an inch thick, from the breath.”
The terrific power of these mighty agencies of nature illustrate His perfections, who has all resources at his command, to minister to the comfort of his servants, or the inevitable destruction of his enemies. To be hostile to the God of heaven and of earth, is surely the height of folly as well as of ingratitude. “He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?”
In these frigid regions, the scurvy becomes a very alarming disease, and many individuals have perished by it, who have attempted to winter in Spitzbergen and neighbouring countries. It appears, however, probable, that this disease is not so much influenced by the severity of the climate as by the use of improper aliment. An excellent paper on this subject, by Dr. John Aikin, is published in the Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester. It affirms, that by the constantuse of fresh provisions, the occasional use of oleaginous substances, together with frequent exercise, a warm dwelling, and a warm clothing, there would, probably, be little danger in exposure to the severities of a Spitzbergen winter. Whenever I have had occasion to expose myself to severe cold, I have found that the more I am heated the longer I can resist the cold without inconvenience. The warmth produced by simple fluids, such as tea or soup, is preferable to that occasioned by spirits. After the liberal use of tea, I have often sustained a cold ten degrees at the mast-head for several hours without uneasiness. I have frequently gone from the breakfast-table, where the temperature was 50° or 60°, to the mast-head, where it was ten, without any other additional clothing except a cap, yet I never received any injury, and seldom much inconvenience, from the uncommon transition.
The antiseptical property of frost is remarkable. Animal substances requisite as food, of all descriptions, (fish excepted,) may be taken to Greenland, and there preserved any length of time, without being smoked, dried, or salted. Beef, mutton, pork, and fowls, the latter neither plucked nor drawn, are constantly taken out from England, Shetland, or Orkney, and preserved in this way. When used, the beef is best divided by a saw; it is then thawed in cold water, and, if cooked, when three, four, or five months old, will frequently appear as profuseof gravy as if it had been recently killed. A further antiseptical effect is produced by the cold on animal and vegetable substances, so as to preserve them, if they remain in the same climate, unchanged for a period of many years. An instance corroborative of this remark is given by M. Bleau, who, in his Atlas Historique, informs us, that the bodies of seven Dutch seamen, who perished in Spitzbergen, in the year 1635, were found twenty years afterwards by some sailors, who happened to land about the place where they were interred, in a perfect state, not having suffered the smallest degree of putrefaction. Wood, indeed, has been met with in Spitzbergen, which has resisted all injury from the weather during the lapse of a century.
Our remarks must now be directed tometeorology, and to an investigation of the temperature of the north Polar regions, and its constant tendency to equalization.
Though in a state of rapid improvement, the science of meteorology is acknowledged to be yet in its infancy. Before the discovery of the weight of the atmosphere by Torricelli, about the year 1630, no means of registering its variations of pressure could be known or practised. Hence we can have no very correct idea of the relative temperature of climates in the present and remote periods, unless from occasional historical remarks of the formation of ice in particular lakes, rivers, or parts of the sea, orfrom the capability of the earth for producing certain fruits or grain. In consequence, however, of the use of the thermometer and barometer, meteorology, as a science, has made considerable advancement. The records of phenomena, which these instruments indicate, have proved highly useful. Professor Mayer has given us a formula for determining the temperature of any situation on the globe, where observations have not been made. Dr. Hutton has presented us with an ingenious and plausible theory of rain; and Kirwan, Humboldt, and others, have advanced our knowledge of the climates of different countries. Dr. Wells has investigated the phenomena of dew, and professor Leslie has conducted profound researches on the relations of air to heat and moisture, and on the propagation of heat and cold through the atmosphere to distant regions. By the invention, also, of several curious and useful instruments, especially the hygrometer for the measurement of the dryness or dampness of the atmosphere, he has contributed very largely to the advancement of meteorological knowledge.
The temperature of the atmosphere in any particular region is one of those phenomena, which, however they may fluctuate, or whatever may be their daily, monthly, or yearly variations, and however unequal and capricious these may be, will, on the average of numerous corresponding periods, be found to bedependent on certain laws tending to produce equilibrium; so that the general results are remarkably uniform. When we experience particularly cold winters, or particularly hot summers, we might suppose that the mean temperature of the years in which the former occur, would be greatly below, and that of years in which the hot summers occur, would be greatly above, the general standard. But this will seldom be found to be the case. In temperate climates of the northern hemisphere, the mean temperature of any one year, derived from the mean of the daily extremes of heat and cold, or from any particular number of daily observations, continued through the course of twelve successive months, seldom differs from the general mean temperature, as derived from the observation of a great, number of years, more than two or three degrees. The mean temperature of any single month cannot be supposed to be equally uniform; this, however, does not differ so widely from the general mean of the month as might be expected.
As the mean annual temperature of a country is, therefore, probably given by one year’s observations only, to within two or three degrees of the truth, the mean of a period of eight or ten years will, probably, come within one degree of the truth. By the comparison of the results of thermometrical observations, made in different countries, with each other,tracing the changes of temperature, which appear with certain changes of latitude or situation, some ingenious and philosophical men have endeavoured, by principles of analogy and induction, to determine the mean temperature of every parallel of latitude from the Equator to the north Pole. These calculations have been considered as near approximations; and, as long as observations were wanting, served for purposes of investigation, to complete the scale of the temperature of the globe. When we reach, however, the regions of perpetual ice, a remarkable anomaly is discovered, the mean temperature falling below the estimation in these tables at once 17°. From a series of observations on the temperature, etc., of the Polar regions, conducted with care during twelve successive voyages to the Greenland Seas, I am able to deduce the following conclusions.
The mean temperature of the months of April, May, June, and July, are satisfactorily derived from the means of the latitudes and of the observations of temperature; but the mean temperature of the whole year, and of the winter months, wherein no observations in such high latitudes have yet been made, can only be ascertained by analogy. From the examination of numerous thermometrical registers, particularly one consisting of 54,750 observations, made in a succession of fifty years, at Stockholm, it would seem that the temperatureof the year in northern latitudes is indicated by that of the 27th to 28th of April. I have collated 656 observations, made on 242 days, in nine different years, extending equally before and after the 27th of April, from which the mean temperature of the year, in latitude 76° 45′, near the meridian of London, appears to be 18° 86′. Reducing all the monthly temperatures derived from my observations to the parallel of latitude 78° north, by the application of Mayer’s formula, and allowing for the fact that many of the observations of April were made at a considerable distance from the ice, I calculate the temperature of April, latitude 78°, to be 14° 23′, and the mean of the year in the same proportion exactly 17°. Having discovered, by observation chiefly, the mean temperature of the months of April, May, June, and July, and the probable mean temperature of the year in the icy regions adjoining Spitzbergen, I conceive it not difficult to calculate the temperature of the remaining months. The difference between the mean temperature of the year and that of July, is 21½° in Stockholm, and 20° near Spitzbergen. Finding not only that the difference of temperature between the mean of the year and July, near Spitzbergen, but that the progressive increase of temperature from April to July, also, bore a strong analogy to the relative circumstances at Stockholm, I formed a scheme of decimals, connected with a simple formula, by which thesame proportion of change, which has been observed to take place every month at Stockholm, may be made very readily to apply to any other country, whence, situations and circumstances being nearly similar, the temperature of unobserved months may be calculated. The temperature of January, latitude 78°, comes out—1°; that of February, O° 7′; March, 6° 1′; August, 34° 9′; September, 27° 8′; October, 18° 5′; November, 9° 8′; and December, 3° 1′.
Following the example of every generalizing meteorologist, I may, with some propriety, extend my observations to the probable temperature of the north Pole, provided I can proceed on data, not merely arbitrary or fanciful, but founded on observation and analogy.
It has been observed, that professor Mayer’s theory for ascertaining the temperature of every latitude, becomes exceedingly wide of the truth when we approach the regions of perpetual ice, notwithstanding in most other situations on the sea, or bordering thereon, it holds sufficiently near. According to it, the mean temperature of latitude 76° 45′, near the western coast of Spitzbergen, would have been 33° 8′, instead of 18° 8′, as shown by my observations; and, according to it, the mean temperature of the Pole is reckoned to be about 31°. The 15° difference between the observation and calculation must be considered as the frigorific effect of the ice, of which, if we can ascertain the probable measurement at the Pole, we shall beable to modify Mayer’s calculation, so as to approximate to the mean temperature. At the Pole, no wind could convey the mild influence of a temperate climate, because, from whatever direction it should blow, it must be cooled down by brushing over an extensive surface of ice; consequently, the full frigorific effect of the ice must be greater in the Pole than in places situated at or near the borders of the ice. In a total period of 242 days, the temperature of the air was, by observation, found to be more or less influenced by the ice during 173 days of that period. Hence, as 173 is to 15°, the anomaly occasioned by the mean temperature, so is 242 to 21°, which is the probable anomaly that may be expected when the temperature is always influenced by the ice, or the anomaly which may be supposed to occur at the Pole. Now, if we deduct 21° from 31°, the calculated temperature of the Pole, the actual mean temperature at the Pole will be about 10°.
Concerning the pressure of the atmosphere in Polar latitudes, I would remark, particularly in the winter and spring months, it is liable to sudden and very considerable variations, and a careful study and observation of these is necessary to enable the watchful mariners to anticipate the approach of storms.
The following are the relations which, in Polar latitudes, I have been enabled to trace between the barometer and the weather:—
1. A hard westerly gale, with snow, occasions the greatest depression of the mercury; and a light easterly wind, with dry weather, the greatest elevation.
2. The rising of the mercury foretells the subsidence of wind or rain, a change of wind or fine weather; and its falling, rain, snow, or a change or increase of wind.
3. The mercury rising unusually high, and then becoming stationary, indicates, in the months of April and May, a continuance of fine weather; but in June or July, foggy weather.
4. If, in the month of April, the mercury fall with some rapidity an inch or more, a storm will most certainly succeed, however contrary appearances may be, which will probably be the more severe in proportion as it approximates the east, and will frequently continue, with unabated violence, for fifty or sixty hours.
5. The rising of the mercury usually precedes the cessation of a storm, but does not invariably determine the period of its continuance, as storms frequently blow for a day or two after the first rise of the mercury.
6. Sudden and repeated fluctuations are indicative of unsettled weather; but the rapid fall of the mercury is no indication of a short gale, though, in other regions, the reverse is said to be the case; for, before storms that continue two or three days, the barometer frequently falls an inch within twenty-four hours;and indeed, in a gale as long and as heavy as I almost ever witnessed, the fall of the mercury was above an inch in twelve hours.
7. Before very heavy storms, when the barometer falls uncommonly low, the mercury seems to get below its natural level, and often rises two or three tenths of an inch as soon as the predicted storm commences; hence this first rise of the mercury is no indication whatever of an abatement of the wind.
8. On account of the different states of the barometer in west and east winds, the usual level of the mercury, with a moderate wind at west, not being much higher than with a gale at east, a change of wind from one of these quarters to the opposite may be accompanied with the greatest alteration in the strength of the wind, without producing any effect on the barometer.
The appearance of the Greenland atmosphere corresponds in some degree with the winter sky of Britain; the colour of the former is, however, of a deeper azure, and its transparency, when clear and free from icy crystals, perhaps more perfect.
Far within the borders of compact ice the atmosphere, in summer, is often cloudless, and the weather serenely pleasant, though cold. But in the usual fishing-stations, and on the exterior of the ice in general, a clear sky is not frequent; nevertheless, when it does occur, its transparency is peculiarly beautiful. The sunsometimes sweeps two or three times round the Pole, without being for a moment obscured by a cloud. Objects the most remote may be seen perfectly distinct and clear. A ship’s top-gallant-mast, at the distance of five or six leagues, may be discerned when just appearing above the horizon, with a common perspective glass; and the summits of some mountains are visible at the distance of sixty to a hundred miles. This perfect clearness occurs most frequently before easterly winds; in general, however, especially in very cold weather, objects on the horizon, when viewed with a high magnifier, appear affected with a perpetual tremor; whence the contemplation of distant objects is accomplished as perfectly with a good pocket-glass as with the best telescope. This tremulous motion is evidently produced by the quantity of delicate icy crystals which, in very low temperatures, are almost always seen floating in the air.
The general obscurity of the atmosphere, arising from clouds or fogs, is such, that the sun is frequently invisible during several successive days. At such times, when the sun is near the northern tropic, there is scarcely any sensible variation in the quantity of light from noon to midnight. Hence, when the sailors have been long abroad in the boats, or so fully engaged as to be unable to mark the progress of time, the inquiry, whether it be day or night, is not unfrequent.
There is nothing remarkable in the appearance of the sun at midnight, excepting that, when its altitude is very small, it may be viewed with the naked eye, without producing any painful sensation; but when it is more than four or five degrees above the horizon, it generally appears as effulgent as with the same elevation in Britain. The force of the sun’s rays is sometimes remarkable. Where they fall upon the snow-clad surface of the ice or land, they are, in a great measure, reflected, without producing any material elevation of temperature; but when they impinge on the black exterior of a ship, the pitch on one side occasionally becomes fluid, while ice is rapidly generated on the other; or, while a thermometer, placed against the black paint-work on which the sun shines, indicates a temperature of 80° or 90°, or even more, on the opposite side of the ship a cold of 20° is sometimes found to prevail.
This remarkable force of the sun’s rays is accompanied with a corresponding intensity of light. A person placed in the centre of a field or other compact body of ice, under a cloudless atmosphere and elevated sun, experiences such an extraordinary intensity of light, that if it be encountered for any length of time, is not only productive of a most painful sensation in the eyes, but sometimes of temporary, or even, as I have heard, of permanent blindness. Under such circumstances, the use of green glassesaffords a most agreeable relief. Some of the Indians of North America defend their eyes by the use of a kind of wooden spectacles, having, instead of glasses, a narrow perpendicular slit opposite to each eye. This simple contrivance, which intercepts, perhaps, nine-tenths of the light that would reach a naked eye, prevents any painful consequences in the most intense reflection of light that ever occurs.
The constant light of the sun during the summer prevents the stars from being seen; and this, together with the frequency of cloudy or foggy weather, rarely admits a sight of the moon. Hence, the longitude, which is of such essential importance in navigation, can seldom be determined by lunar observations. Chronometers, therefore, though but little used by the whale-fishers, become of enhanced value; and even a good watch, well regulated, will, where the degrees of longitude are so very contracted, point out the meridianal situation of the ship for short intervals, with a very tolerable degree of accuracy.
Though the air in the arctic seas is generally in a state of dampness, approaching to complete saturation, yet the absolute quantity of moisture cannot, when the cold is very excessive, be considerable. It is remarked, that vessels are less apt to rust here than in any other climate; and this observation, if we consider the relative humidity of the atmosphere as indicated by the hygrometer, is certainly correct;but though the air in the Polar regions is generally damp, yet it is probable there is no habitable situation in the known world in which such a degree of actual dryness prevails, as in a house or in the cabin of a ship, well heated, when the external air is intensely cold. The wainscoting of the cabin of a ship in cold weather sometimes shrinks, in consequence of the uncommon dryness, as much as half an inch in a panel of about fifteen inches broad, being equal to one-thirtieth of the breadth; but, on returning to Britain, the same panel expands again to almost its original dimensions.
Few observations, comparatively, seem to have been made on the electricity of the atmosphere, especially in high latitudes. Perhaps, some trials that I made in the spring of 1818, on this subject, were the first that have been attempted within the arctic circle. When in latitude 68°, I erected an insulated conductor, eight feet above the maintop-gallant mast-head, connected by a copper wire with a copper ball, attached by a silk string to the deck. The conductor consisted of a slender tapering tube of tinned iron, terminated by a pointed brass wire. It was fixed in an iron socket, supported by a large cylindrical piece of glass; which glass, by means of another iron socket, was secured to the top of a long pole, elevated several feet above the mast-head. A tin cone encompassed the bottom of the conductor, the mouth of which being downward, defended therod of glass from getting wet, so as to injure its insulated property. The conducting wire, being kept clear of the rigging of the ship, was expected to exhibit in the ball, where it terminated, any difference between the state of the electricity of the ship or sea and that of the atmosphere. The test of electricity was a Bennet’s gold-leaf electrometer, brought into contact with the ball; but though trials were made for several successive days, from lat. 78° to lat. 75°, during clear, cloudy, and showery weather, not the least excitation was ever observed. That the effect might be rendered more perceptible, the electrometer was well dried and warmed immediately before each experiment, without which, indeed, no excitation could be produced in it, either with glass or sealing-wax. The nights being light, the aurora borealis could not be seen; but on the evening of the 20th of May, an appearance was observed, very much resembling the aurora borealis, yet no signs of electricity were observed in the electrometer applied to the conductor.
There are several phenomena of the atmosphere dependent on reflection and refraction, deserving of notice.Ice-blinkshave been already mentioned, when speaking of the ice. Under certain circumstances, all objects seen on the horizon seem to be lifted above it a distance of two to four, or more, minutes of altitude, or so far extended in height above theirnatural dimensions. Ice, land, ships, boats, and other objects, when thus enlarged and elevated, are said toloom. The lower part ofloomingobjects are sometimes connected with the sensible horizon by an apparent fibrous or columnar extension of their parts, which columns are always perpendicular to the horizon; at other times, they appear to be quite lifted into the air, a void space being seen between them and the horizon. This phenomenon is observed most frequently on, or before, an easterly wind, and is generally considered as indicative of such.
A most extraordinary appearance of the Foreland, or Charles’s Island, Spitzbergen, occurred on the 16th of July, 1814. While sailing to the southward, along the coast, with an easterly wind, I observed what appeared to be a mountain, in the form of a slender, but elevated, monument. I was surprised that I had never seen it before, and was more astonished when I saw, not far distant, a prodigious and perfect arch thrown across a valley, of above a league in breadth. The neighbouring mountains disclosed the cause, by exhibiting an unnatural elevation with the columnar structure of looming objects. Presently, the scene was changed, the mountains along the whole coast assumed the most fantastical forms; the appearance of castles, with lofty spires, towers, and battlements, would, in a few minutes, be converted into a vast arch or romantic bridge.These varied, and sometimes beautiful, metamorphoses naturally suggested the reality of fairy descriptions; for the air was perfectly transparent; the contrast of snow and rocks was quite distinct; even in the substance of the most uncommon phantasms, though examined with a powerful telescope, and every object deemed to possess every possible stability. I never before observed a phenomenon so varied or so amusing. The land was not alone affected by this peculiar refraction, since every object between the north-east and south-east points of the compass was, more or less, deformed by it. A mass of ice on the horizon appeared of the height of a cliff, and the prismatic structure of its front suggested the idea of basaltic columns. It may be remarked, that these phenomena took place on a clear evening, after an uncommonly warm afternoon.
I observed many other peculiar effects of refraction. Such phenomena are frequent on the commencement or approach of easterly winds, and are probably occasioned by the commixture, near the surface of the land or sea, of two streams of air of different temperatures, so as to occasion an irregular deposition of imperfectly condensed vapour, which, when passing the verge of the horizon, produced these appearances.
Parhelia, mock suns, andcorona, haloes, are perhaps not so frequent in Greenland as in some parts of America. I do not recollect tohave observed them more than thrice. In the first instance, I did not minutely notice the particulars. I recollect, however, there were two or three parhelia, and four or five coloured circles, some of which almost equalled in their colours the brilliancy of the rainbow. On the second occasion, several parhelia were succeeded by a lunar halo, together with the aurora borealis, and proved the harbingers of a tremendous tempest. The last phenomenon of the kind which I saw, consisted of a large circle of luminous whiteness, passing through the centre of the sun, in a direction nearly parallel with the horizon, intersected in various places with coloured circles of smaller dimensions.
Rainbowsare common in these regions, but thefog-bow, orfog-circle, is more rarely observed, and is entitled to our attention. It is a circle depicted on the fog, which prevails in the Polar seas, at certain seasons, resting upon the surface of the water, and seldom reaching to a considerable height. On the 19th July, 1813, I observed one of about 30° diameter, with bands of vivid colours depicted on the fog. The centre of the circle was in a line drawn from the sun, through the point of vision, until it met the visible vapour in a situation exactly opposite to the sun. The lower part of the circle descended beneath my feet to the side of the ship, and although it could not be a hundred feet from the eye, it was perfect, and the colours distinct. The centre of the colouredcircle was distinguished by my own shadow, the head of which, enveloped by a halo, was most conspicuously portrayed. I remained a long time contemplating the beautiful phenomenon before me.
In the phenomena of the winds, which I am now about to describe, I cannot be so precise as I have been in my observations on atmospheric temperature and pressure; being able to give a correct idea only of their peculiarities and direction, whilst their relative force, founded on conjecture, I am unable to express otherwise than in the phraseology of the mariner, which, it must be allowed, is somewhat ambiguous.
In proportion as we recede from the equator, we find the winds become more variable, irregular, and partial. Storms and calms, in the northern regions, repeatedly alternate, without warning or progression; forcible winds blow at one place, when, at the distance of a few leagues, gentle breezes prevail; a storm from the south, on one hand, exhausts its impetuosity upon the gentle breeze, blowing from off the ice on the other, without prevailing in the least; ships, within the circle of the horizon, may be seen enduring every variety of wind and weather at the same moment; come becalmed, and tossing about by the violence of the waves; some, under close-reefed topsails, labouring under the force of a storm; and others, flying under gentle breezes, from quarters as diverse as the cardinal points.
The most general preliminaries tosudden stormsare perfect calms; curiously variable breezes, with strong squalls; singular agitation of the sea, together with thick snow, which often changes from flakes to powder, and falls in such profusion, as to occasion an astonishing gloominess and obscurity in the atmosphere. If the snow clear away, the gale is often at hand, whilst a luminousness on the horizon, resembling the ice-blink, sometimes points out its direction, and a noise in the upper regions of the air announces its immediate approach. In this variable and occasionally tempestuous climate, the value of the barometer is satisfactorily proved. My father once removed his ship from a most dangerous bight in the main ice, where she would probably have been lost, had she remained a few moments longer, in consequence of his having heard the rushing of a storm in the air, while at the mast-head. Before the ship was out of danger, a heavy gale commenced, but the sails being set, and the ship under command, she was extricated from the perilous situation. From this circumstance, he imagined that sudden storms frequently commence at some height in the atmosphere, and gradually descend to the surface.Intermitting galesare almost equally common with sudden storms, and variable winds prevail, in an extraordinary degree, in the frigid zone. The winds, indeed, among ice, are generally unsteady in their direction, and attended withstrong gusts or squalls, particularly in very cold weather, and towards the termination of a storm. This variableness, being the effect of the unequal temperature of the ice and water, is curious, but the phenomenon that is most calculated to excite surprise is, that several distinct, and even opposite winds, with the force, in many instances, of a fresh gale, will occasionally prevail at the same moment of time, within the range of the horizon. The situation in which this circumstance occurs, would appear to be the point where conflicting winds contend for the superiority; and as, in some instances, their forces are effectually balanced, the winds, which simultaneously blow from the southward and northward, or from the eastward and westward, have their energies almost destroyed at the place of combination. Thus it sometimes happens that ships, within sight of each other, will, at the same period of time, experience every variety of weather, from calm to storm, from fair weather to thickest snow, together with several distinct and contrary currents of wind.
On the morning of the 30th of April, 1810, the ship Resolution—in which I served in the capacity of chief-mate, or harpooner—was, during thick showers of snow, sailing by the edge of a stream of ice, with the wind from the north-westward. About ten,A. M., the snow abated, and several ships were seen within the distance of three or four miles. As all ofthese ships were sailing “on a wind,” it was easy to ascertain the direction of the wind where they were, and curious to observe its variableness. Two ships, bearing north-east from us, had the wind at north-east; two, bearing east, had east or east-north-east; two, bearing south-east, had the wind at south-east; while, with us, it blew from the north-west. In each of these situations a fresh breeze prevailed; but in some situations, where there happened to be no ships, there appeared to be no wind at all. The clouds above us, at the time, we’re constantly changing their forms. Showers of snow were seen in various places at a distance.
Instances oflocal stormsare not uncommon in temperate climates, but in the arctic regions they are frequent and striking. Their locality is such, that a calm may occur when a storm is expected and actually does prevail at a short distance, so that the indication of the barometer may appear to be erroneous. In such cases, however, the reality of the storm is often proved by the agitation of the sea. Swells from various quarters make their appearance, and frequently prevail at the same time. My father, whose opportunities of observation have been very numerous, relates the following instance of the locality of a storm. When commanding the ship Henrietta, he was on one occasion navigating the Greenland Sea during a tedious gale of wind, accompanied with snowy weather. As the wind began to abate, a ship appeared in sight, underall sails, and presently came up with the Henrietta. The master hailed, and inquired what had happened that my father’s ship was under close-reefed top-sail in such moderate weather. On being told that a storm had just subsided, he declared that he knew nothing of it; he observed, indeed, a swell, and noticed a black cloud a-head of his ship that seemed to advance before him until he was overshadowed with it a little while before he overtook the Henrietta, but he had had fine weather and light winds the whole day!
A single instance is given of those sudden gusts and various currents of wind, which occur at some elevation in the atmosphere, and which are common to all climates. On a particularly fine day, my father having landed on the northern part of Charles’s island, incited by the same curiosity which led him on shore, ascended, though not without great difficulty and fatigue, a considerable elevation, the summit of which was not broader than a common table, and which shelved on one side as steep as the roof of a house, and on the other formed a mural precipice. Engaged in admiring the extensive prospect from an eminence of about two thousand feet, he scarcely noticed the advance of a very small cloud. Its rapid approach and peculiar form (having somewhat the appearance of a hand) at length excited his attention, and when it reached the place where he was seated in a calm air, a torrent of wind assailed him withsuch violence, that he was obliged to throw himself on his body and stick his hands and feet in the snow to prevent himself from being hurled over the tremendous slope which threatened his instant destruction. The cloud having passed, the air, to his great satisfaction, became calm, when he immediately descended by sliding down the surface of snow, and in a few minutes reached the base of the mountain in safety.
The course of the seasons, as relates to prevailing winds, is as follows. In the spring months, north-east and east winds are frequent, with severe storms from these and other quarters. The storms from the north-east, east, and south-east, are generally the most violent. When they occur in March and April, they frequently continue without intermission for two or three successive days, and rarely subside till the wind veers round to the north or north-west. Storms, in the spring of the year, blowing from the south-east, generally change, before they abate, to the east, north-east, north, and north-west; but storms commencing at south-west or south, usually veer, before they subside, in the contrary direction, towards the north-west, and sometimes continue changing until their strength is spent in the north or north-east quarter. A storm beginning to blow from the western quarter seldom continues long; when it blows hard it commonly veers to the north or north-east, and it is observable that a very hard southerly or easterly gale is frequently succeeded within afew days by another from the opposite quarter. With the advance of the month of May, storms become less frequent, and the weather becomes sensibly better. The winds then begin to blow more frequently from the north-west; in June, the most common winds are north and north-west, south and south-west; and in July, south and south-westerly winds prevail. At this season, calms or very light winds also become frequent, and continue sometimes for several days together. In high northern latitudes, however, very heavy storms from the southward occur in July, and blow for thirty or forty hours at a time. In August, north-east winds begin again to prevail. The south-west and southerly storms of the autumn blow with particular violence. “The wind rages so vehemently, that the houses quiver and crack, the tents and lighter boats fly up in the air, and the sea-water scatters about in the land like snow-dust—nay, the Greenlanders say that the storm rends off stones a couple of pounds’ weight, and mounts them in the air. In summer, whirlwinds also spring up, that draw up the waters out of the sea, and turn a boat round several times.”
When the countries of temperate climates suffer under tempests in frequent succession, Polar regions enjoy comparative tranquillity. After the autumn gales have passed, a series of calm weather, attended by severe frosts, frequently succeeds. So striking, indeed, is the stillness of the northern winter, that there istruth in Dr. Guthrie’s observation, that nature seems “to have studied perfect equality in the distribution of her favours, as it is only parts of the earth which most enjoy the kindly influences of the sun that suffer by the effects of its superior heat, so that if the atmosphere of the north is not so genial as that of the south, at least it remains perfectly quiet and serene, without threatening destruction to man and the product of his industry as in what are called happier climates.”
The principal meteors, not being of the aqueous kind, that remain to be considered are lightning and the aurora borealis. As we approach the Pole, the former phenomenon becomes more rare, and the latter more common. Lightning, indeed, is seldom seen to the northward of the arctic circle, and when it does occur, it is very seldom accompanied by thunder.
In Spitzbergen, neither thunder nor lightning has, I believe, ever been observed. For my own part, I have never seen lightning northward of latitude 65°, and only in two instances when at any considerable distance from land. The aurora borealis occurs independent of land and of cold, becoming more frequent in its appearance as we approach the Pole, and enlivening by its brilliancy and peculiar grandeur the tedious gloom of the long winter nights. Its appearance, though not very frequently seen in Britain, is very common as far south as Shetland and Feroe. In Iceland, and other countriesbordering on the arctic circle, the northern lights occur almost every clear night during the winter. In the summer, they can seldom be seen on account of the presence of the sun, and in the spring of the year, the obscurity of the atmosphere prevents their frequent exhibition. In several instances, I have known stormy weather follow the appearance of the brilliant aurora, and one of the most tremendous storms I was ever exposed to, succeeded a splendid exhibition of the northern lights. Under certain circumstances, especially when they are seen at a considerable altitude above the horizon, having a red or copper colour, they are supposed to be indicative of a violent storm.
Our chapter on atmospherical phenomena must now be concluded by observations on aqueous meteors; including clouds, rain, hail, snow, frost-rime, hoar-frost, and fog.
Very little clear weather occurs in the Greenland seas, for often when the atmosphere is free from any visible vapour on the land, at sea it is obscured by frost-rime in the spring of the year, and by clouds or fog in the summer; so that scarcely one-twentieth of the season devoted to the whale-fishery can be said to consist of clear weather.
Thecloudsmost generally consist of a dense stratum of obscurity, composed of irregular compact patches covering the whole expanse of the heavens. Thecirrus,cirrocumulus, andcirrostratus, of Howard’s nomenclature, are occasionallydistinct; thenimbusis partly formed, but never complete: and the grandeur of thecumulusor thunder-cloud is never seen, unless it be on the land. In the atmosphere over the coasts in Greenland and Spitzbergen, where the air is greatly warmed by the concentration and reflection of the sun’s rays in the sheltered valleys, a small imperfect cumulus is sometimes exhibited.
The known agents made use of in the economy of nature for the production of rain are changes of temperature and electricity. The latter principle is supposed to act most powerfully in the production of thunder-showers, in which case it is not unlikely that a portion of the air of the atmosphere is, by the passing of the lightning from one cloud to another, converted into water. The former seems to be the chief agent in the colder regions of the globe, where electricity is either more equal in its distribution, or not so active in its operations as in the warmer climates. From the beautiful theory of the late Dr. James Hutton, supported by the researches of professor Leslie, it appears, that “while the temperature advances uniformly in arithmetical progression, the dissolving power which this communicates to the air mounts with the accelerating rapidity of a geometrical series;” and this in such a ratio, that the “air has its dryness doubled at each rise of temperature answering to fifteen centesimal degrees,” or twenty-seven of Fahrenheit. Hence, “whateverbe the actual condition of a mass of air, there must always exist some temperature at which it would become perfectly damp;” and hence whenever two streams of air saturated with moisture of different temperatures are mixed together, or brush against one another, in the form of different currents of wind, there must always be a quantity of moisture precipitated. For if two masses of air, of different temperatures, but equal in quantity, and both saturated with moisture, were mixed together, the resulting temperature would be nearly the mean of the two, but, at that temperature, the capacity of air for moisture being less than the quantity contained in the two commixed masses, the surplus must be deposited.
Rain is by no means common in the Polar countries excepting in the months of July and August, and then only with southerly or westerly winds. During all seasons of the year, however, with strong gales blowing from a southern climate, rain is occasionally observed in situations near the edge of the ice; but snow or sleet are more common even under such circumstances; and in remote situations among ice, near the 80th parallel of latitude, rain seldom or never occurs.
Hailis a much more familiar meteor in temperate than in frigid climates. In the Greenland Sea, this aqueous concretion is very rarely seen; and if we define it as consisting of pellucid spheres of ice, generated in the atmosphere,it may be said to be unknown in very high latitudes. This fact is in favour of the electrical origin of hail, as it is well-known to be common in temperate climates, where the air is in a high state of electricity, and to be the frequent concomitant of thunder and lightning. The only substance resembling hail that is generated in the frigid zone consists of a white, porous, spherical concretion of light and snowy texture.
Snowis so very common in the arctic regions, that it may be boldly stated, that in nine days out of ten, in April, May, and June, more or less snow falls. With southerly winds, near the borders of the ice, or in situations where humid air, blowing from the sea, assimilates with a gelid breeze from the ice, the heaviest falls of snow occur. In this case, a depth of two or three inches is sometimes deposited in an hour. The thickest precipitations also frequently precede sudden storms. The form of the particles of snow presents an endless variety. When the temperature of the air is within a degree or two of the freezing point, much snow falls, frequently consisting of large irregular flakes, such as are common in Britain. Sometimes it exhibits small granular, or large rough white concretions; at others, it consists of whitespiculæ, or rude stellated crystals. But in severe frosts, though the sky appears perfectly clear, lamellar flakes of snow, of the most regular and beautiful forms, arealways seen floating in the air, and sparkling in the sunbeams, and the snow which falls in general is of most elegant texture and appearance.
Snow, of a reddish or brownish colour, is not unfrequently seen. The brownish stain, which occurs on shore, is given by an earthy substance brought from the mountains by the streams of water, derived from thawing ice and snow, or the fall of rain. The reddish colour, as far as I have observed, is given by the mute of birds; though, in the example met with by captain Ross, in Baffin’s Bay, the stain appears to have been of a vegetable nature. The little auk, (Alca alle,) which feeds upon shrimps, is found, in some parts of the Polar seas, in immense numbers. They frequently retreat to pieces of ice, or surfaces of snow, and stain them all over red with their mute. Martens saw red snow in Spitzbergen, which he considered as being stained by rain-water running down by the rocks.
The extreme beauty and endless variety of the microscopic objects procured in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, are perhaps fully equalled, if not surpassed, in both particulars of beauty and variety, by the crystals of snow. The principal configurations are the stelliform and hexagonal, though almost every shape, of which the generating angles of 60° and 12° are susceptible, may, in the course of a few years’ observation, be discovered. The various modificationsof crystals may be classed under five general kinds, or genera.
1.Lamellar, infinite in variety, most delicate in structure, and capable of sub-division into several distinct species.
2.A lamellar, or spherical nucleus, with spinous ramifications in different planes.This genus also consists of two or three species.
3.Finespiculæ, or six-sided prisms.The finest specimens resemble white hair, cut into lengths not exceeding a quarter of an inch.
4.Hexagonal pyramids.I have but once seen this kind of snow crystal.
5.Spiculæ, or prisms having one or both extremities inserted in the centre of a lamellar crystal.This genus resembles a pair of wheels, united by an axle-tree.
In low temperatures, the greatest proportion of crystals that fall are, probably, perfect geometrical figures.
Some of the general varieties in the figures of the crystals may be referred to the temperature of the air; but the particular and endless modifications of similar classes of crystals can only be referred to the pleasure of the great First Cause, whose works, even the most minute and evanescent, and in regions the most remote from human observation, bear the impress of His own hand, and display to his intelligent creatures his vast and beneficent wisdom. If, on these forms of unintelligent matter, he has bestowed such excellent workmanship, withhow much more transcendent loveliness will he clothe those who are redeemed by the exceeding riches of his grace, and who, beyond the history and productions of all worlds, will reflect the beauty of his glorious countenance!
Frost-rime, or frost-smoke, is a meteor peculiar to those parts of the globe where a very low temperature prevails for a considerable time. It consists of a dense frozen vapour, apparently arising out of the sea, or any large sheet of water, and ascending, in high winds and turbulent seas, to the height of eighty or one hundred feet, but, in light breezes and smooth water, creeping along the surface. The particles of which it consists are as small as dust, and cleave to the rigging of ships, or almost any substance against which they are driven by the wind, and afford a coating of an inch or upwards in depth. These particles adhere to one another until the windward surface of the ropes is covered, and form long fibres somewhat of a prismatical or pyramidal shape, having their points directed towards the wind. Frost-rime adheres readily to articles of clothing; and, from the circumstance of its lodging in the hair, and giving it the appearance of being powdered, the sailors humorously style it “the barber.” Such of the frost-rime as is dislodged from the rigging whenever the ship is tacked, covers the deck to a considerable thickness, and, when trod upon, emits an acute sound, resembling the crushing of fine particlesof glass. The cause of this phenomenon, which generally is not observed until the cold is reduced to 14°, may perhaps be similar to that producing rain, and may be explained according to Dr. Hutton’s theory.
An aqueous vapour, consisting of very minute frozen particles, sometimes occupies the lower regions of the atmosphere in temperate and frigid climates, during frosty weather, and is deposited on the ground, on surfaces of ice, or almost any other substance with which it comes in contact. This vapour seems to be of the nature ofhoar-frost; it generally appears in the evening, after a bright sunshiny day.
Fog, or mist, is the last meteor that remains to be considered. This is one of the greatest annoyances that the arctic whalers have to encounter. It frequently prevails during the greater part of the month of July, and sometimes, at considerable intervals, in June and August. Its density is often such, that it circumscribes the prospect to an area of a few acres, not being pervious to sight at the distance of a hundred yards. It frequently lies so low that the brightness of the sun is scarcely at all intercepted; in such cases, substances warmed by the sun’s rays, give to the air immediately above them increased capacity for moisture, by which evaporation goes briskly on during the densest fogs. In Newfoundland, on occasions when the sun’s rays penetrate the mist, and heat the surface of the rocks,fish is frequently dried during the thickest fogs. Fogs are more frequent and more dense at the borders of the ice than near the coast of Spitzbergen. They occur principally when the mercury, in the thermometer, is near the freezing point, but they are by no means uncommon with the temperature of 40° or 45°. They are most general with south-westerly, southerly, and south-easterly winds. They seldom occur with high winds, yet in one or two instances I have observed them very thick, even in storms. Rain generally disperses them. Fogs, by increasing the apparent distances of objects, appear sometimes to magnify men into giants, hummocks of ice into mountains, and common pieces of drift-ice into heavy floes or bergs. They are an especial annoyance to the whale-fisher, and greatly perplex the navigator, by preventing him from obtaining observations for the correction of his latitude and longitude, so that he often sails in complete uncertainty. Fogs are more common near the ice than in the vicinity of the land, more frequent in open seasons than in close seasons, and more intense and more common in the southern fishing-stations than in the most northern.