1 10 VIKINGS OF TO-DAY 



miles only from. land. Then we again headed north, 

 and by nine o'clock, with a good breeze behind us, 

 crossed Hare Bay and ran into St. Anthony Har- 

 bour. During the day a curious mirage had for 

 some time kept us under the impression that we were 

 hedged in by floe ice. We could see the vertical 

 edge, the gleaming white top, and what appeared to 

 be even cracks, fissures, and hummocks. It turned 

 out to be only an optical illusion, and we found that 

 it kept retreating before us all the afternoon like a 

 will-of-the-wisp. At St. Anthony we were among 

 friends of last year, so were soon ashore, and the 

 day closed with a hearty service in the kitchen of 

 the largest house. 



The breeze increasing, delayed us a day in this 

 'port, but before daylight on the isth we left for 

 an attempt to cross the Straits of Belle Isle. As 

 we rounded Cape Bauld a most magnificent crimson 

 light lit up the whole horizon. Against it stood 

 out many stately icebergs, rising weird and ghostly 

 from the deep purple of the sea. One of immense 

 height looked just like some gigantic cathedral, its 

 gabled roof in the red glow shining like burnished 

 gold, while ever and anon the stillness preceding 

 dawn was broken by the deep boom of the Atlantic 

 swell reverberating from some hollow chasm at its 

 base, suggesting a mighty organ played in its vast 

 recesses. No sooner had we passed it in silence 

 than the engineer touched me on the arm and pointed 

 back at its lordly summit. " Look, sir ! isn't that 



