28 THE LAST CRUISE OF THE MIRANDA. 



of St. Johns. A pretty girl in a pony-chaise drove by, and 

 smiled upon us beamingly. My friend, who was deep in 

 politics, did not observe ; but I raised my hat and bowed. 

 Then the M. P. looked at the retreating chaise, and eyed me 

 inquiringly. " I am a worshipper of beauty," I explained ; " I 

 always bow to a pretty girl." 



"Um/' said he, "that was my wife." 



On July 16, the day after leaving St. Johns, we passed a 

 seemingly unending procession of icebergs, of all sizes and 

 shapes. These at times assume most beautiful forms, and 

 seem to build themselves better than they know. In par- 

 ticular, I shall never forget the striking beauty of one huge 

 mass of ice that slowly passed us. In shape it resembled the 

 ruins of some vast and magnificent cathedral, and a stately 

 and perfect tower rose from the ruins and glinted and gleamed 

 in the sun. It seemed as if some great Arctic Michael Angelo 

 must have spent his life in giving shape and beauty to so 

 grand a pile. The day was balmy and clear ; a blue Italian 

 sky hung above us, and it was a perfect delight to lie lazily in 

 steamer-chairs upon the deck and with half-closed eyes dream- 

 ily watch the gleaming ghostly procession go by. One of 

 our party counted one hundred and fifty icebergs that day. 

 The summer of 1894 was especially prolific in icebergs. 

 Wherever we touched in northern latitudes we were told that 

 never had there been seen, within the memory of the oldest 

 inhabitants, such vast quantities of ice. It is now generally 

 understood by those who have studied far northern conditions 

 that an unusually early prevalence of icebergs in low latitudes 

 indicates a preceding hard winter in Arctic circles, and that 

 the region of the northern ice-cap is particularly dangerous. 

 Our own experiences, and the disasters that overtook Wellman 

 and Jackson during the summer of 1894, all go to confirm 

 this theory. 



An iceberg at a convenient distance is a magnificent sight ; 



