A HUNDRED ICEBERGS 307 



past one iceberg after another. The sea, which during 

 the morning had been high enough for the spray to dash 

 over the tops of the bergs, gradually went down, and in 

 the evening, when we were well to leeward of them all, 

 it was as smooth as if we had been in harbour. In the 

 course of the night we passed a good many more bergs, 

 and the next day we only saw about twenty. 



In the various descriptions of voyages in these waters, 

 opinions are divided as to the temperature of the water 

 falling in the neighbourhood of icebergs. That it falls 

 steadily as one approaches the pack-ice is certain enough, 

 but whether it falls for one or a few scattered icebergs, 

 no doubt depends on circumstances. 



One night at 12 o'clock we had a temperature in the 

 water of 341° F., at 4- a.m. 33*8° F., and at 8 a.m. 

 33'6° F.; at 6 a.m. we passed an iceberg. At 12 noon 

 the temperature had risen to 33*9° F. In this case one 

 might say that the temperature gave warning, but, as a 

 rule, in high latitudes it has been constant both before 

 and after passing an iceberg. 



On Christmas Eve, 1911, when on our second trip 

 southward we saw the first real iceberg, the temperature 

 of the water fell in four hours from 35*6° F. to 327° F., 

 which was the temperature when the bergs were passed, 

 after which it rose rather rapidly to 35° F. 



In the west wind belt I believe one can tell with 

 some degree of certainty when one is approaching ice. 

 In the middle of November, 1911, between Prince 



