May 1st, In the morning, about twelve or one o’clock, the Garland was put upon the main-top-gallant stay by the last married man, as is usual among the Greenland ships. It is formed by the crossing of three small hoops in the form of a globe, and is covered with ribbons, &c. The crew on this occasion blacken their faces with a mixture of grease and soot, and dance round the decks, their chief musical instruments being frying-pans, mess-kettles, fire-irons, &c. This rough mode of festivity they continued till the Captain ordered them a plentiful allowance of grog. After regaling themselves with the very acceptable donation of their commander, they washed themselves, and began to coil away the boat lines, and prepare for the fishing. In every boat there is a line, 720 fathoms long, to the end of which is fixed a harpoon about eight feet five inches long; the iron part is better than two feet long, and is extremely sharp. On each side of the point is placed a barb, or wither, diverging from the harpoon at an angle of nearly forty degrees, to prevent the instrument from flinching and losing its hold. There are also several lances, or spears, about six feet long, the points of which are about two inches broad: by these the whales are killed after being struck with the harpoons. A boat’s crew consists of a harpooner, a boat-steerer, a line-manager, and three or four men, more or less, according to the size of the boat. 2d, Cast off, and made for a large iceberg, one mile to the east, to which we made fast, and were soon after closed in by the ice. This iceberg was twenty feet high, and mostly composed of fresh water ice. We had not been above two hours in this situation before a strong gale cleared away the ice, and we discovered South Cape in Spitzbergen, bearing north-east, distant thirty miles. May 3d, Sailed for Charles Island on the west coast of Spitzbergen, the most southern part of which is in latitude 78°. We were much impeded in our course by ice, which, according to the Greenland phrase, was very _rank_, around us. The ship struck occasionally on masses of considerable size, to the no little surprise of those sailors who were making their first voyage hither. We had this day a piece of fresh beef cooked for dinner, which we brought from England; it tasted as well, and was as full of juice as if newly killed: as did all the fowls which we got at Shetland: These were hung by the legs to a rope upon the quarter-deck; but neither plucked nor gutted. Our eggs likewise preserved their good taste. This proves the antiseptic power of intense cold. 4th, Intense frost. Ice-bound, with several sail in company. 5th, Strong gales. Unhung the rudder. 6th, The ship towed through very rank ice, by four boats manned by half the crew. Ten sail in company.