SPITZBERGEX. — ICEBERGS. lOS 



lar. At the distance of fifteen miles, the front- 

 edge, subtended an angle of ten minutes of a de- 

 gree. Near the South Cape lies another iceberg, 

 nearly as extensive as this. It occupies the space 

 between two lateral ridges of hills, and reaches the 

 very summit of the mountain, in the back-ground, 

 on which it rests. 



It is not easy to form an adequate conception of 

 these truly wonderful productions of Nature. Their 

 magnitude, their beauty, and the contrast they form 

 vsith the gloomy rocks around, produce sensations 

 of lively interest- Their upper surfaces are ge- 

 nerally concave ; the higher parts are always cover- 

 ed "with snow, and have a beautiful appearance ; but 

 the lower parts, in the latter end of every summer, 

 present a bare surface of ice. The front of each, 

 which varies in height from the level of the ocean, 

 to 400 or 500 feet above it, lies parallel with the 

 shore, and is generally washed by the sea. This 

 part, resting on the strand, is undermined to such 

 an extent by the sea, when in any way turbulent, 

 that immense masses, loosened by the freezing 

 of water lodged in the recesses in winter, or by 

 the eflPect of streams of water running over its 

 surface and through its chasms in summer, break 

 asunder, and with a thundering noise fall into the 

 sea. But as the water is in most places shallow in 

 front of these icebergrs. the masses which are di^ 

 lodged are commonly reduced into fragments before 



