13 in the Western Arctic Seas. less, produced by the dissolution of the ice, over and round which were numbers of the little divers, or rolges ; from which circum stance they are generally called ice-birds. The ice had a very sensible effect on the temperature of the sea. On the 19th we observed the variation of the magnetic needle to be 48°3 westerly; but in these high latitudes, especially approaching the supposed north magnetic pole of the earth, the ascertainment of the varia tion on board ship is an operation of no small difficulty. In the evening we had a view of the west coast of Greenland, about Cape Desolation, the ships being at noon in north lat. 59° 48', and in west long. 48° 2'. Here we discovered a current setting towards S.W. at the rate of about six miles in the twenty-four hours. Sunday 20th.—The Greenland coast again came in sight, dis tant twelve or thirteen leagues to the eastward. The water still of a dirty tinge, although no bottom was found at a depth of one hundred and forty fathoms. The breeze from the eastward, which came on in the evening of the 19th, carried us in a W.N.W. direction through the ice, so broken, however, as to admit the ships to make way, or what the fishers call sailing ice. In this open sea we proceeded till noon of this day, when we discovered several icebergs in the line of our course towards the north-west; having now arrived in latitude 62° 43', and longitude 61° S3'- Coming in the evening near one of those masses of ice, we found the depth of water to be about two hundred fathoms; while the berg, which did not appear to be fast to the ground, rose from fifty to sixty feet above the water. Having conducted you fairly into the frozen waters of the en trance into Davis’s Strait, 1 must lay down my pen until another opportunity presents itself of communicating my remarks on scenes in which novelty and interest must be combined. Best regards at home, &e. LETTER V. Davis's Strait, 31 st July, 1819. Dear Brother, I resume my pen to inform you, that at last we have arrived at the entrance of Sir James Lancaster’s Sound, on which so much has been said, since the return of the ships employed in the expe-