Chap. III. CAPTAIN DAVID BUCHAN. 67 



and rolled towards the shore with such rapidity, that the 

 crew had not time to take any precautions, and the boat 

 was in consequence washed upon the beach, and completely 

 filled by the succeeding wave. As soon as their astonish- 

 ment had subsided,. they examined the boat, and found her 

 so badly stove, that it became necessary to repair her in 

 order to return to the ship. They had also the curiosity to 

 measure the distance the boat had been carried by the 

 wave, and found it to be ninety-six feet."— pp. 155, 156. 



In viewing the same glacier from a boat at a 

 distance, a second avalanche took place, which 

 afforded them the gratification of witnessing the 

 creation, as it were, of a sea iceberg, an opportunity 

 which has occurred to few, though it is generally 

 understood that such monsters can only be generated 

 on shore. 



"This occurred on a remarkably fine day, when the 

 quietness of the bay was first interrupted by the noise of 

 the falling body. Lieutenant Franklin and myself had ap- 

 proached one of these stupendous walls of ice, and were 

 endeavouring to search into the innermost recess of a deep 

 cavern that was near the foot of the glacier, when we heard 

 a report, as if of a cannon, and turning to the quarter 

 whence it proceeded, we perceived an immense piece of the 

 front of the berg sliding down from the height of two hun- 

 dred feet at least into the sea, and dispersing the water in 

 every direction, accompanied by a loud grinding noise, and 

 followed by a quantity of water, which being previously 

 lodged in the fissures, now made its escape in numberless 

 small cataracts over the front of the glacier." — pp. 156, 157. 



After describing the disturbance occasioned by 

 the plunge of this enormous fragment, and the 



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