160 UPSET OF AN ICEBEEG. 



crystal vaults, which sometimes appear of a 

 deep ultramarine blue, and at others of an 

 emerald green colour ; they look as if they 

 were the fitting abodes of mermaids and 

 all sorts of sea-monsters, but practically no 

 animal ever goes into them ; the water dash- 

 ing in and out through these icy caves and 

 tunnels makes a sonorous but rather mono- 

 tonous and melancholy sound. In moderately 

 calm weather, many of these excavated bergs 

 assume the form of gigantic mushrooms, and 

 all sorts of other fantastic shapes ; but directly 

 a breeze of wind comes they break up into 

 little pieces with great rapidity. 



Christian and myself very nearly got a 

 dangerous ducking yesterday from the sudden 

 break-up of a large iceberg on which we were 

 standing to look out with the telescopes ; a 

 large piece of it suddenly, and without the 

 least warning, became detached under water, 

 and the berg, in consequence, losing its equili- 

 brium, began to rock so violently, that we had 

 some difficulty in scrambling down again to 

 the boat ; immediately after we had got off 

 it, the berg capsised altogether with a tre- 

 mendous noise and splash, breaking up into 

 half a dozen pieces as it did so. 



