48 FIGHTING AN ICEBERG. 



the side of a berg which rose a hundred feet above 

 our topmasts, then slipped past another of smaller 

 dimensions. By pushing against them with our ice- 

 poles we changed somewhat the course of the schoon- 

 er ; but when we thought that we were steering clear 

 of the mass which we so much dreaded, an eddy 

 changed the direction of our drift, and carried us al- 

 most broadside upon it. 



The schooner struck on the starboard quarter, and 

 the shock, slight though it was, disengaged some frag- 

 ments of ice that w r ere large enough to have crushed 

 the vessel had they struck her, and also many little 

 lumps which rattled about us ; but fortunately no per- 

 son was hit. The quarter-deck was quickly cleared, 

 and all hands, crowding forward, anxiously w r atched 

 the boat. The berg now began to revolve, and was 

 settling slowly over us ; the little lumps fell thicker 

 and faster upon the after-deck, and the forecastle was 

 the only place w r here there was the least chance of 

 safety. 



At length the berg itself saved us from destruction. 

 An immense mass broke off' from that part which was 

 beneath the surface of the sea, and this, a dozen times 

 larger than the schooner, came rushing up within a few 

 yards of us, sending a vast volume of foam and water 

 flying from its sides. This rupture arrested the revo- 

 lution, and the berg began to settle in the opposite 

 direction. And now came another danger. A long 

 tongue was protruding immediately underneath the 

 schooner ; already the keel was slipping and grinding 

 upon it, and it seemed probable that we should be 

 knocked up into the air like a foot-ball, or at least 

 capsized. The side of our enemy soon leaned from us, 

 and we were in no danger from the worse than hail- 



