ported, that fome parts of that fhip, and the long-boat, had been thrown on the coaft of Iceland. From all accounts, and a comparison of circumftances, to me it appears certain, that the Indfödfretten foundered on this rock, which now no longer rifes above the furface of the fea. It is impoffible that fuch a long-boat can come out of a fhip, except it be done by the hands of men, even should the fhip be thattered all to pieces. Now, not only was this long-boat driven on fore whole, and in good condition; but they, moreover, found in it a box of wax-candles, but not a living foul. At the distance of about a quarter of a mile from the boat, they discovered feveral parts of the fame fhip, which were known from the mark upon them. Thefe parts, of different dimenfions and form, would not have been thrown on shore so near to one another, if the fhipwreck had happened at a greater distance; the waves of the fea, the currents, &c. muft undoubtedly, in that cafe, have fcattered them farther afunder. Moreover, the fragments had been wafted to the land by the wind which blows in the direction from the rock. Befides, no other traces of this misfortune had been noticed along the coaft of Iceland.

From thefe circumftances I drew the conclufion, that the Indfödfretten had, after leaving the Cape of Good Hope on her return home, a dangerous and adverfe paffage; for it is known, that in our northern feas in that year, eaft winds generally prevailed. Very many fhips, efpecially the fhips of war, prefer going north round England, to failing through the channel: and probably the hip may have been in

want of fomething; as, for exam ple, fresh water, and the like.The captain was, at any rate, well acquainted in Iceland; for I myfelf had, fome years before, been there with him as lieutenant of a fhip under his command; he may, then, have been in search of fome of the harbours of Iceland, when he had the misfortune, in the open sea, unexpectedly to ftrike on this hidden rock. In this defperate fitua tion, the crew probably had recourfe to the long-boat, as the only means of faving at least a few of them: but while they were hoifting it overboard, it is likely that the that the flip foundered, and every foul on board perished, as no intelligence was ever received concerning them.

During my expedition to Iceland in the year 1786, it became an object of my particular attention, to make inquiries concerning this volcanic island, although no one then fufpected that the above-mentioned fhip of war had been wrecked at that place; for this is only a conclufion which I have drawn from what I learned during my investigation of the fubject.

When I arrived in Iceland, where, on account of the observations for the maps, and of other affairs committed to my care, I found myself under the neceffity of remaining with my fhip a confiderable time in Holmens-Hafen, and had at my difpofal a fmall fhip lying in that harbour; I ordered lieutenant, now captain, Grove, to proceed on a cruife about the place where the volcanic island had been feen. He continued there feveral days, and while under fail frequently caft the founding-lead, but could find no bottom, with a line of a hundred or

more

more fathoms, and had given up all hopes of making the defired difcovery. When he was on the point of returning, he, contrary to all expectation, obferved the waves breaking on a rock, whofe top was nearly on a level with the furface of the water and now, no longer doubting that he had found what he had been in fearch of, he observed its direction and distance from the reareft coaft of Iceland.

When the object of my expedition was accomplished, and I, at the - conclufion of fummer, was preparing to commence my voyage homewards; I determined before my departure to visit this remarkable spot myfelf, and to correct or confirm its true geographical fituation, as far as it can be ascertained by obfervations made at fea. I therefore took my point of departure from fome fmall iflands or rocks, which lie in front of Cape Reikianös, the moft fouth-weft promontory of Iceland, and of which the outermoft, called the Grenadier's Cap, is 32 miles diftant from the promontory, in the direction from fouth-weft to weft. The weather proving favourable, I was able to make a meridian obfervation for determining the latitude, as likewife obfervations of the longitude by means of time-keepers. Although the time-keepers had with me were none of the beft; yet, as I had failed on the fame day from an Icelandic harbour, where I had obferved the longitude the relative error could not be very confiderable; I therefore determined the fituation of the rock, called the Grenadier's Cap, to be in 63° 43′ 40′′ N. latitude, and 25° 35′ 40′′ longitude, weft from Paris. This likewife tolerably

*

well coincides with the obfervations of the French navigators, Verdun, De la Crenne-Borda, and Pingré; the more, as I have good reafons for believing, that, from want of a fufficient knowledge of the coaft of Iceland, they made the latitude of Cape Reikianös three minutes too far north; for they ftated it to be 63° 55′. And as, from the most accurate obfervations, I found that the rock lies in a direction from fouth to-weft, according to the true meridian, and juft four miles from the above-mentioned Grenadier's Cap, it follows, that the fituation of this moft dangerous rock is in 63° 32′ 45′′ of N. latitude, and 26° 2′ 50′′ weft longitude from Paris.

While I was continuing my courfe, in order to get a view of the rock, and captain Grove, who was on board with me, concluded from his former obfervations, that we must be near it, as the coaft of Iceland had totally vanished from our fight, and the outermoft of the above named vifible rocks, which lie fouth-weft from Iceland, was, notwithstanding the clearness of the weather, fcarcely any longer perceivable; he faid, "Is it aavilable to fail fo directly towards it?""Yes, my friend," was my anfwer; for, on whichever fide we turn, we fhall have as great a chance of ftriking upon it, as of efcaping the danger: it is like looking for a needle in a load of hay." As we were thus converfing about it, the people on the watch called out.The attention and eyes of all were directed towards it, and we faw directly a-head of us the waves breaking againft a rock. We in

66

ftantly

ftantly tacked about, and, at the fame time, hove the lead, which had been kept in readiness. We found the depth to be 26 fathoms; immedately after, 40 fathoms; and fhortly after we could not find the bottom with a line a hundred fathoms long. Tallow was, as ufual, applied to the plummet, that we might be able to judge of the nature of the ground from the particles that thus adhere to it. We obtained fmall pieces of ftone, which either wholly confifted of lava, or at least were of the volcanic kind. The rock is not large, and appears from our foundings, furrounded by a steep abyfs. Its top is level with the furface of the fea, or only a little beneath it: hence it cannot be perceived till we are very near it, or only when the waves break against it.

The origin of the volcanic island which was feen at this place in the year 1783, may be explained in the following manner:-The rock that ftill remains, formed the crater from which an eruption at that time happened; the great quantity of lava that was ejected accumulated at the bottom of the fea around the crater, till it rofe to a confiderable height above the furface of the water. But as this volcano is fituated in the wide ocean, where the largest and most violent waves arife, and tower one over another; it is probable that their force very foon deftroyed a ftructure that poffeffed yet fo little folidity and ftrength; especially as round about there is an ingulfing abyfs, into which it might eafily be precipitated. It is to be remembered likewife, that, in the fame year, a confiderable quantity of pumice, and the like volanic productions, whofe fpecific gravity is lefs than

that of water, was driven on shore in Iceland, and by navigators found fwimming in the ocean.

Had the eruption happened in a lefs tempeftuous fea, and the profundity around it been lefs steep and unfathomable, the ejected mafs would have been confolidated by its own weight, and in time have become an ifland; of which we have feen feveral inftances in the Archipelago, in the Eaft Indies, and in other places of the ocean. Had this volcanic eruption taken place on the main land, or on an island, a mountain would have been formed by it. A volcano does not necef farily originate from a mountain; they have been seen to burst forth from the plain: but a neceffary confequence is, that the ejected volcanic productions, which are heaped up upon the land, at last beconie a mountain. Now, as here the mighty waves of the ocean could eafily wash away the loofe accumulations around the crater, it is not abfurd to fuppofe, that, as the fea raged over its mouth, the fire was at laft overpowered, and the volcano extinguished by the water gufhing down the opening.

The crater, formed of rock, remained ftanding. It is an undoubted fact, that there exifted here a rock even before the eruption of the volcano; and later obfervations evince, that it ftill exifts. There was before an obfcure tradition among the mariners who were wont to fail to Iceland, that hereabout there was a blind rock, which they called Blind Fugle-Skiör (bird-rock.) This name I have retained in the chart, though many navigators deny its exiftence, because they have often failed paft without obferving it.But in this cafe, and under fuch cir

cumftances,

cumstances, the affertion of one man that he has feen it, deferves more credit than the reports of a hundred others, who deny its exiftence because they have not feen it. This confirms me in my opinion, that the crater was in the fame ftate long before the late eruption.

To conclude: it will not be deemed a fuperfluous obfervation, to ftrengthen this opinon, that in almoft the fame direction from the fouth-west point of Iceland, as has been remarked above, lie five fmall islands, or rocks, the outermoft of which is 3 miles distance from the promontory Reikianös. Between

these islands is deep water; and hips failing to or from the west side of Iceland commonly pafs that way, if they be fufficiently acquainted with the fituation of the land and rocks. The latter are called by the Danifh mariners, Vogel-Klippen (Bird-rock,) on account of the numbers of fea-fowl reforting on them: but the natives of the country give them the name of Eld-Eyarne, that is Fire-Inlands. May we not thence infer, that, in ancient times, they had volcanic eruptions? And, indeed, the volcano feen in 1783, may likewife have raged long before that period.

USEFUL