178 ADVENTURES IN THE NORTHERN SEAS. 



The morning of the 16th was beautifully bright 

 and clear, but the game have so completely desert- 

 ed this part of the coast that we only got two seals 

 and one walrus all day. 



Kennedy brought in a load of fire-wood, and 

 some limestone boulders containing fossils from 

 Ryk Yse Island. 



Nothing can exceed the sublime grandeur of a 

 really fine day in these regions : the sea as calm 

 and bright as a mirror, and covered with countless 

 floating icebergs of a dazzling whiteness, and of all 

 imaginable sizes and shapes ; no sound to be heard 

 but the terrific peals of thunder caused by the 

 cracking of the glaciers, the hoarse bellowing of 

 the walruses, and the screams and croaks of the 

 gulls and divers. All this makes up such a scene, 

 that no man who has once beheld it can ever forget 

 it. Alas ! that there should be a reverse to this 

 beautiful medal, but often ten minutes suffice to 

 change the face of every thing entirely : a chilling 

 blast of wind comes from the eternal ice-fields to the 

 northeast ; thick fog, and probably snow, follow 

 immediately ; the brilliant sugary-looking glaciers 

 are hidden, and nothing remains of the glorious 

 panorama of sea, and ice, and hills, and glaciers, 

 but a dim, and cold, and misty circle of an acre in 

 extent around the boat 



Such a day, with such a termination, was the 16th, 

 and we were late before we could find our way back 

 to the sloop. 



