64 CAPE YORK IN SIGHT. 



in dis way to pull and haul on de ropes." He did not 

 seem to have a thought that there was, a moment 

 before, very little expectation on the part of "de 

 gentlemens " that any of them would have further 

 occasion for his services. 



This adventure inspired the crew with greater 

 confidence. I suppose they thought that, as two 

 cannon-balls never strike in the same spot, another 

 iceberg would not very likely lie in our course ; and 

 so it fell out. The cry of " breakers " was often heard 

 from the forecastle-deck, but in the end the sound 

 proved to come from off the bow, and we passed on 

 unharmed. 



At length the wind blew itself out, the snow ceased 

 falling, the clouds broke, the sun shone out brightly, 

 and we lay becalmed not far from the centre of Mel- 

 ville Bay. The snow and ice were shovelled from the 

 deck and beaten from the ris^o-ino;. I went aloft ao'ain 

 wuth my glass. There were no ice-fields in sight, but 

 the reflection of them was still visible in the skv to 

 the westward. 



The sea was dotted over w^ith icebersrs, and it 

 seemed wonderful that we should have passed safely 

 between them. One near b}'^ particulary excited my 

 admiration. It was a perfect " triumphal arch," 

 through which the schooner might have passed with 

 perfect ease. 



The schooner lay motionless during the night, but 

 earl}^ in the morning a fair wind sent us again upon our 

 course, and this wind held steadily through the day. 

 Icebergs rose before us and set behind us in solemn 

 procession. My journal designates them as '' mile- 

 stones of the ocean." The lofty, snow-croA\Tied high- 

 lands behind Cape York rose at length above tho 



