52 CAUTION NEAR THE GLACIER. 



there is also a necessity for a strict observance 

 of silence in their immediate vicinity. The fact 

 is, that, as the berg is constantly breaking away 

 during summer, there are generally some pieces 

 all but on the point of falling, and capable of 

 being detached by the smallest concussion of 

 the air; the explosion of a gun scarcely ever 

 failing to bring down one of the masses. 



In cloudy or misty weather, when the hills 

 are clothed with newly-fallen snow, nothing can 

 be more dreary than the appearance of the shores 

 of Spitzbergen ; whereas, on the contrary, it is 

 scarcely possible to conceive a more brilliant 

 and lively effect than that which occurs on a 

 fine day, when the sun shines forth and blends 

 its rays with that peculiarly soft, bright atmo- 

 sphere which overhangs a country deeply-bedded 

 in snow ; and with a pure sky, whose azure 

 hue is so intense as to find no parallel in nature. 

 On such an occasion the winds, near the land at 

 least, are very light, or entirely hushed, and 

 the shores teem with living objects. All na- 

 ture seems to acknowledge the glorious sunshine, 

 and the animated part of creation to set no 

 bounds to its delight. 



Such a day was the 4th of June, and we 

 felt most sensibly the change from the gloomy 

 atmosphere of the open sea, to the cheerful 



