VESSEL MOORED TO AN ICEBERG. 4.3 



shelving side, (for the other was perpendicular,) 

 the ship made a tack, until, upon signal, she 

 again dropped down and shot up to the very 

 edge of the berg. Then, sending out two strong 

 hawsers, which were affixed to the anchors, she 

 soon became safely moored ; and the sails were 

 furled. 



Here we lay, snugly sheltered from the gale, 

 which now freshened, carefully watching how- 

 ever the slightest motion of the berg, lest, upon 

 some change of its equilibrium, it should topple 

 over, and so prove our destruction instead of 

 our safety. Nothing however occurred to dis- 

 turb us till about two o'clock of the following 

 morning, when a heavy floe drifted against the 

 berg, on the weather-side, with a violent shock. 

 For some minutes it seemed uncertain whether 

 the ponderous mass would not turn completely 

 over ; but, after many oscillations, a large piece 

 was supposed to have broken off from the south 

 western point, which, though it increased the 

 agitation for a time, seemed to have restored the 

 balance, and the mass again became stationary. 

 During this suspense, it will be easily believed 

 we were not idle ; for, not knowing how soon 

 we might be overwhelmed, the hawsers were in- 

 stantly veered away to eighty fathoms, and careful 

 hands stationed to cut the ropes in case the danger 

 became more imminent. 



