104 ACCOUNT OF THE AllCTlC REGIONS. 



they can be floated av> ay into the main sea. This 

 fact seems to account for the rarity of icebergs in 

 the Spitzbergen sea* 



The front surface of icebergs is glistening and 

 uneven. Wherever a part has recently broken off, 

 the colour of the fresh fracture is a beautiful 

 greenish-blue, approaching to emerald green ; but 

 such parts as have long been exposed to the air, are 

 of a greenish-grey colour, and at a distance some- 

 times exhibit the appearance of cliffs of whitish 

 marble. In all cases, the effect of the iceberg is 

 to form a pleasing variety in prospect, with the mag- 

 nificence of the encompassing snow-clad mountains, 

 which, as they recede from the eye, seem to " rise 

 crag above crag," in endless perspective. 



On an excursion to one of the Seven Icebergs, 

 in July 1818, I was particularly fortunate in wit- 

 nessing one of the grandest effects wliich these Po- 

 lar glaciers ever present. A strong north-westerly 

 swell having for some hours been beating on the 

 shore, had loosened a number of fragments attach- 

 ed to the iceberg, and various lieaps of broken ice 

 denoted recent shoots of the seaward edge. As we 

 rowed towards it with a view of proceeding close to 

 its base, I observed a few little pieces fall from the 

 top, and while my eye was fixed upon the place, an 

 immense column, probably fifty feet square, and one 

 hundred and fifty feet high, began to leave the pa- 

 rent ice at tine top, and leaning majestically forward 



