INTERESTING SCENE. 39 



thus partially on the grotesque shapes, either 

 really assumed by the ice, or distorted by the 

 unequal refraction of the atmosphere, so betrayed 

 the imagination that it required no great exer- 

 tion of fancy to trace, in various directions, ar- 

 chitectural edifices, grottos, and caves here and 

 there glittering as if with precious metals. So 

 generally, indeed, was the deception admitted, 

 that, in directing the route of the vessel from 

 aloft, we for a while deviated from our nautical 

 phraseology, and shaped our course for a church, 

 a tower, a bridge, or some similar structure, 

 instead of for lumps of ice, which were usually 

 designated by less elegant appellations. Our 

 attention was, however, soon called from the 

 contemplation of this engaging scene of novelty 

 and illusion to matter of more immediate import- 

 ance and reality, arising from the increasing diffi- 

 culty of our situation. 



The streams of ice, between which we at 

 first pursued our serpentine course with com- 

 parative ease, gradually became more narrow, 

 and, at length, so impeded the navigation, that 

 it became necessary to run the ships against 

 some of these imaginary edifices in order to 

 turn them aside. Even this did not always 

 succeed, as some were so substantial and im- 

 moveable, that the vessels glanced off to the 



