52 BEAUTIES OF THE ICEBERGS. 



no doubt caused bv the colder ice of the interior beintr 

 brought suddenly in contact with the warmer air.^ 

 The effect is often very remarkable as well as beauti-/ 

 ful, especially when the cloud reflects the rays of the J 

 sun. jjr 



If, however, my pen cannot convey a picture of' 

 these icebergs in their more terrible aspects, it will, 1 

 fear, be equally impotent to portray their wondrous 

 beauties. I have tried it once before, and was much 

 dissatisfied with the result. I had then, however, a 

 soft sky, when the whole heavens were a mass of rich, 

 warm color, the sea a dissolved rainbow, and the bergs 

 great floating monoliths of malachite and marble 

 bathed in flame. Now the sky was gray, the air clear, 

 and the ice everywhere a dead white or a cold trans- 

 parent blue. 



I clambered up the sloping side of the berg to 

 which we were tied, and, from an elevation of nearly 

 two hundred feet, obtained a view which well repaid 

 me for the trouble of the venture. I am glad to say, 

 however, that I came down again before St. Paul's 

 Cathedral tumbled from its corner ; an event which 

 sent us drifting away to a less uncomfortable neigh- 

 borhood, at the expense of an ice-anchor and eighty 

 fathoms of manilla line. 



As I approached the berg, I was struck with the 

 remarkable transparency of the water. Looking over 

 the gunwale of the boat, I could trace the ice stretch- 

 ing downward apparently to an interminable distance. 

 Looking back at the schooner, its reflection was a per- 

 fect image of itself, and it required only the separation 

 of it from the surrounding objects to give to the mind 

 the impression that two vessels, keel to keel, were float- 

 ing in mid-air. This singular transparency of the water 



