THE ARCTIC SEAS. 125 



been beating on the shore, had loosened a number 

 of fragments attached to the iceberg, and various 

 heaps of broken ice denoted recent shoots of the 

 seaward edge. As we rode towards it, with a view 

 of proceeding close to its base, I observed a few 

 little pieces fall from the top; and while my eye 

 was fixed upon the place, an immense column, pro- 

 bably fifty feet square, and one hundred and fifty feet 

 high, began to leave the parent ice at the top, and 

 leaning majestically forward, with an accelerated 

 velocity fell with an awful crash into the sea. The 

 water into which it plunged was converted into an' 

 appearance of vapour or smoke, like that from a 

 furious cannonading. The noise was equal to that 

 of thunder, which it nearly resembled. The column 

 which fell was nearly square, and in magnitude 

 resembled a church. It broke into thousands of 

 pieces. This circumstance was a happy caution, for 

 we might inadvertently have gone to the very base 

 of the icy cliff, from whence masses of considerable 

 magnitude were continually breaking."* 



" 'Tis sunset : to the firmament serene 



The Atlantic wave reflects a gorgeous scene; 



Broad in the cloudless west, a belt of gold 



Girds the blue hemisphere; above unroll'd, 



The keen, clear air grows palpable to sight, 



Embodied in a flush of crimson light, 



Through which the evening star, with milder gleam, 



Descends to meet her image in the stream. 



Far in the east, what spectacle unknown 



Allures the eye to gaze on. it alone ? 



— Amidst black rocks, that lift on either hand 



Their countless peaks, and mark receding land ; 



* Arctic Regions, i. 104. 

 L2 



