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( 614 )
ACCOUNT OF A VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN IN THE YEAR 1780. BY
S. BACSTROM, M. D.
COMMUNICATED BY THE AUTHOR.
[Puit. Mace. July 1799-]
SIR,
HAVING received much gratification from a perufal of your Magazine, I fend you
a few particulars refpecting a voyage which I made to Spitfbergen in the year 1780,
extracted from a journal I kept at the time ; which you may lay before your readers, if
you think they can contribute either to their information or amufement.
The Editor of the Iam, &c.
Philofophical Magazine. S. BACSTROM.
A voyacE to Greenland, as it is called, though in fa& to the ifland of Spitfbergen,
for the purpofe of killing the black whale fifh, is one of the healthieft that can be un-
dertaken, and furnifhes fo much curious matter for amufement to perfons of .an in-
quifitive turn of mind, that even a fecond will hardly fatisfy fuch, if they have been for-
tunate enough to fail with a good commander, and in a veflel well appointed. In both
thefe refpects I was very fortunate, which is rather uncommon; the matters or com-
manders in the Greenland trade being generally men of. little or no education, and con-
fequently void of thofe hberal fentiments neceflary to render the fituation of thofe who
accompany them comfortable. Ifa regularly educated furgeon, from a defire of vifiting
fuch northern regions, goes in a veffel under fuch a perfon as I have defcribed, he is
generally fickened the firft voyage; a barber is perhaps his fucceflor, and when any
illnefs or accident happens on board, if the patient efcapes with his life, he is often
rendered a cripple. I have feen fome inftances of this kind.
The unfociable difpofition of the mafter is not, however, the only circumftance that
often deters from a fecond voyage. I have known veflels well ftored by the owners
with every neceffary and ufeful article, and even a liberal fupply of what fome would
call luxuries, and yet every comfort withheld from thofe on board: the matter literally
ftarving himfelf and officers, and not allowing a bit of fire in the cabin, in thefe cold
latitudes, that he might fave a few coals, fome dozens of hams and tongues, a quantity
of cheefe, butter, flour, wine, porter, &c. to fend home to his own family at the end of
the Neves : a paltry theft, at the expence of the health and froft-bitten limbs of thofe
on board.
When the reader is informed, that fuch has been my paflion to vifit foreign climes
that I have been no lefs than fifteen voyages, one of them round the world, he will not
be furprifed that I fhould with to gratify my curiofity by vifiting the frozen regions,
even though I knew fomething of the inconveniences before defcribed, to which thofe
who undertake the voyage are often expofed. My bufinefs was to guard againft them as
well as poflible, by proper inquiries refpeéting the character and difpofition of the
matter, and I fucceeded to my wifh in two voyages to thefe parts: the firft was in the
Sea Horie, in the year 1779, which yielded me much fatisfaction; but I was more
completely gratified by the fecond, which is the one I mean to defcribe.
I engaged myfelf as furgeon on board the Rifing Sun. William Souter, mafter. A
well appointed ftout hip, of four hundred tons burthen, in the employ of Mr. Wil-
liam Ward. The vellel carried about ninety men, and had twenty nine-pounders
mounted on the main deck, with nine whale-boats, fome of them hung in the tackles
over the fides, and others {towed and lafhed on the deck, 7
e
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