31)2 A VOYAGE IN THE NORTH SEAS. 



was to occur, namely, that the whole of the gigantic mass was about 

 to be rent from its frozen chains and hurled into the ocean. My- 

 riads of sea-fowl flitted through the dim vapour, flying with wild 

 cries of fear from the threatening danger. Each clasped by an arm, 

 Flora and Arundel remained mute and motionless, gazing with emo- 

 tions of awe and sublimity on the elemental struggle. At each of 

 the terrific explosions wide rents appeared between the rocks and 

 the ice which had adhered to them ; splintered fragments flew about 

 in every direction, as if propelled by some deadly engine, until by 

 one mighty and convulsive effort the enormous mass tore itself 

 away from the solid rocks, and, tottering for a moment, at length 

 rushed down into the unfathomable waters with a stunning roar, 

 which shook with successive reverberations the mountains to a dis- 

 tance of many miles. Amid boiling waves and showers of spray and 

 foam, the vast fragment disappeared in the depths of the ocean, 

 tracing its course beneath by the wheeling eddies and ripples on the 

 surface. At length, at a distance of some hundred yards, it emerged, 

 gradually rearing its carved and fretted towers through the vapour, 

 till the sunbeams lit up every graceful line, and it swept with the 

 current on its slow stately and irresistible course. The echoes had 

 scarcely died away in the distant mountains, ere the vapours upon 

 the sea began to rise and fade away under the influence of the sun- 

 beams. The morning was calm, peaceful, and bright, bearing no 

 mark of the late outrage upon its serenity, save that of the waters 

 gradually sinking to repose, and the receding form of the iceberg. 



As they stood gazing upon the subsiding waters, they beheld four 

 boats successively round the point whence the ice-cliff had fallen and 

 make towards them. Three of them were the simple kayaks, or 

 canoes of the Esquimaux, formed of seal-skins sewed together, moved 

 with a single oar, by means of which they impelled their little craft 

 with extraordinary swiftness ; the other was an oomiak, or woman's 

 boat of considerable size, the flat sides and bottom of which were 

 covered with deer-skins. It contained several women and children, 

 besides an old man, whose long white beard, tall frame, and light 

 complexion, showed that he did not belong to any of the Indian 

 tribes. Occupied as Flora and Arundel were with sentiments of the 

 most extravagant joy, they could not but be struck by his venerable 

 and patriarchal appearance, more especially as contrasted with the 

 low, uncouth forms, olive skins, and long straight black hair of the 

 Indians. His manner also was as different from that of his com- 

 panions as his appearance. As they closed in with the shore, he 

 stretched forth his hands as if giving a benediction, while the wonder 

 which his features displayed seemed chastened by loftier feelings, or 

 repressed perhaps by that tardiness of the sensibilities which sinks 

 upon those who have " grown aged in this world of woe, so that no 

 wonder waits them" The Esquimaux on the other hand made a 

 thousand gestures of surprise and pleasure ; they chattered to their 

 companions, then turned, beckoned, and bowed to the two stran- 

 gers ; and, when they perceived them answer with gestures of the 

 same kind, they raised a wild universal scream of delight, beat their 



