MAELSTROM, a very dangerous whirlpool on the coast of Norway, in the 68th degree of latitude, in the province of Nordland, and the district of Lofoden, and near the island of Moskoe, from whence it also takes the name of Moskoe-ström. Its violence and roarings exceed that of a cataract, being heard to a great distance, and without any intermission, except a quarter every sixth hour, that is, at the turn of high and low water, when its impetuosity seems at a stand, which short interval is the only time the fishermen can venture in; but this motion soon returns, and, however calm the sea may be, gradually increases with such a draught and vortex, as absorb whatever comes within their sphere of action, and keep it under water for some hours, when the fragments, shivered by the rocks, appear again. This circumstance, among others, makes strongly against Kircher and others, who imagine that there is here an abyss penetrating the globe, and issuing in some very remote parts, which Kircher is so particular as to assign, for he names the gulf of Bothnia. But after the most exact researches which the circumstances will admit, this is but a conjecture without foundation; for this and three other vortices among the Ferroe islands, but smaller, have no other cause than the collision of waves rising and falling, at the flux and reflux, against a ridge of rocks and shelves, which confine the water so that it precipitates itself like a cataract; and thus the higher the flood rises, the deeper must the fall be; and the natural result of this is a whirlpool or vortex, the prodigious suction whereof is sufficiently known by lesser experiments. But what has been thus absorbed, remains no longer at the bottom than the ebb lasts; for the suction then ceases, and the flood removes all attraction, and permits whatever had been sunk to make its appearance again. Of the situation of this amazing Moskoe-ström we have the following account from Mr. Jonas Ramus: "The mountain of Helseggen, in Lofoden, lies a league from the island Ver, and betwixt these two runs that large and dreadful stream called Moskoe-ström, from the island Moskoe, which is in the middle of it, together with several circumjacent isles, as Ambaaren, half a quarter of a league northward, Ilesen, Hoeholm, Kieldholm, Suarven, and Buckholm. Moskoe lies about half a quarter of a mile south of the island of Ver, and betwixt them these small islands, Otterholm, Elimen, Sanlesen, Stockholm. Betwixt Lofoden and Moskoe, the depth of the water is between 36 and 40 fathoms; but on the other side, towards Ver, the depth decreases, so as not to afford a convenient passage for a vessel, without the risk of splitting on the rocks, which happens even in the calmest weather: when it is flood, the stream runs up the country between Lofoden and Moskoe with a boisterous rapidity: but the roar of its impetuous ebb
to the sea is scarcely equalled by the loudest and most dreadful catarracts; the noise being heard several leagues off, and the vortices or pits are of such an extent and depth, that if a ship comes within its attraction, it is inevitably absorbed and carried down to the bottom, and there beat to pieces against the rocks; and when the water relaxes, the fragments thereof are thrown up again. But these intervals of tranquillity are only at the turn of the ebb and flood, and calm weather: and last but a quarter of an hour, its violence gradually returning. When the stream is most boisterous, and its fury heightened by a storm, it is dangerous to come within a Norway mile of it: boats, ships, and yachts having been carried away, by not guarding against it before they were within its reach. It likewise happens frequently, that whales come too near the stream and are overpowered by its violence; and then it is impossible to describe their howlings and bellowings in their fruitless struggles to disengage themselves. A bear once attempting to swim from Lofoden to Moskoe, with a design of preying upon the sheep at pasture in the island, afforded the like spectacle to the people; the stream caught him, and bore him down, whilst he roared terribly, so as to be heard on shore. Large stocks of firs and pine trees, after being absorbed by the current, rise again, broken and torn to such a degree as if bristles grew on them. This plainly shows the bottom to consist of craggy rocks, among which they are whirled to and fro. This stream is regulated by the flux and reflux of the sea; it being constantly high and low water every six hours. In the year 1645, early in the morning of Sexagesima Sunday, it raged with such noise and impetuosity, that on the island of Moskoe, the very stones of the houses fell to the ground."