56 THE LAST CRUISE OF THE MIRANDA. 



pack. The water was very still, scarcely a ripple on its sur- 

 face ; and some of the men took advantage of the calm by 

 going out in a small boat and securing a lot of ice from a 

 wasted berg near the ship. They lassoed great pieces of ice, 

 and in this way got about a ton on board. 



At about six o'clock the fog cleared and disclosed an in- 

 teresting state of affairs, for the floe was closing in on us. 

 To the west of us was a line of pack ice like a wall, only about 

 half a mile away ; it stretched both ways as far as the eye 

 could see, while to the east of us was another wall of ice, not 



FLOE ICE. 



so sharply denned, but too much of it to attempt a passage 

 through. The Miranda fled in a southeasterly direction, and 

 it was a most interesting retreat through shapes and forms of 

 ice of all varieties and colors. Blue and green ice we saw of 

 different shades, and sometimes ice tinted with red. The 

 varying shapes kept us constantly interested, and the forms 

 assumed at times by the ice were wonderfully beautiful and 

 delicate. Here and there we saw seals, seated on masses of 

 ice, who eyed us with evident curiosity, and occasionally a 

 whale rose and spouted near the ship. Ice-pilot Dumphy was 



