158 THE FIRST ICEBERG. 



until its body becomes a thousand feet thick : the 

 extreme summits of the mountain - peaks alone 

 tower above the snowy waste, and the mass at the 

 bottom is now, by the pressure of superincumbent 

 masses, pure ice, hard and clear as crystal. 



When the great glacier grows old it still main- 

 tains its stealthy downward motion during every 

 summer. It has reached the shore, and has been 

 pushed, like a huge white tongue, out into the 

 sea. 



" But what has all this to do with icebergs ? " it 

 may be inquired. Much, very much. It is common 

 enough, in commenting on a child, to speak of the 

 parent. The glacier is the mother of the iceberg. 



When, in the world's early morning, the embryo 

 glacier reached the sea, its thin edges were easily 

 broken off by the waves ; but as it increased and 

 still further encroached, these edges became thicker 

 and thicker, until at last a wall of pure ice, several 

 hundred feet high, presented its glittering front to 

 the ocean. It was hard and massive ; the sun of 

 summer had little effect on its frigid face, and it 

 seemed to bid defiance to the sea itself. But things 

 often are not what they seem. Each billow sapped 

 its foundation ; it soon began to overhang its base. 

 At length the cohesion of the mass was not sufficient 

 to sustain its weight. A rending, accompanied by 

 sounds like heaven's artillery, took place; the 

 crystal mountain bowed its brow and fell with 

 thunderous crash upon the water ; then, rocking 



