CHANGING TINTS OF ICEBERGS. 73 



A number of icebergs seen at the distance of a few miles 

 presented the appearance of a mountainous country, de- 

 ceiving the eyes of experienced mariners. 



These icebergs differ somewhat in color, according to 

 age, solidity, or the atmosphere. A very general appear- 

 ance is that of cliffs of chalk, or of white-gray marble. A 

 few have a blue or emerald-green tint. The sun's rays re- 

 flected from them give a glistening appearance to their sur- 

 face, like that of silver. In the night, they are readily 

 distinguished in the distance by their natural effulgence, 

 and, in foggy weather, by a peculiar blackness of the atmos- 

 phere. 



A writer thus describes the strange and sudden trans- 

 formations and the changing tints of icebergs. " One re- 

 sembled, at first, a cluster of Chinese buildings, then a 

 Gothic cathedral of the early style. It was curious to see 

 how all that mimicry of a grand religious pile was soon to 

 change to another like the Coliseum, its vast interior now a 

 delicate blue, and then a greenish white. It was only neces- 

 sary to run on half a mile to find this icy theatre split 

 asunder. An age of ruin seemed to have passed over it, 

 leaving only to view the inner cliffs, one a glistening white, 

 and the other blue, soft and airy as the July heavens.'' An- 

 other berg shone like polished silver, dripping with dews, 

 the water streaming down in all directions in little rills and 

 falls, glistening in the light like molten glass. Veins of gem- 

 like transparency, blue as sapphire, crossed the mass. 



" Solomon, in all his glory," was not clothed like the flowers 

 of the field. Would you behold an iceberg appareled with 

 a glory that eclipses all floral beauty, and makes you think 

 not only of the clouds of heaven at sunrise and sunset, but 

 of heaven itself, you must come to it at sunrise and sunset. 

 Lofty ridges of the shape of flames have the tint of flames; 

 out of the purity of the lily bloom the pink and the rose. 

 We will not say cloth of gold drapes, but water of gold 



