98 A SUMMER VOYAGE TO THE ARCTIC 



the ice, and manned by hardy Newfoundland sailors. Our course 

 lay north along the east coast of Ca})e Breton and the west coast 

 of Newfoundland, and then through the straits of Belle Isle, where 

 on the third day out we saw the first icebergs. From this time 

 on for over two months these Arctic w^anderers formed a part of 

 every scene. At first they were a constant source of interest, 

 because of their enormous bulk, their varied outlines, and their 

 beautiful coloring, changing from a marble white to a sky blue 

 or a delicate pink, with an emerald green just below the surface 

 of the water. We amused ourselves b}^ idealizing them, turreted 

 castles, vast amphitheaters, triumphal arches, obelisks, ships, and 

 animals being all represented in the magnificent procession of 

 bergs which we passed. Some which I measured had a height 

 of 160 feet above the water and a length of 800 feet. 



Soon after leaving the straits we began to encounter floe-ice, 

 through which we continued to steam for about 700 miles, along 

 the Labrador coast, which we closely followed. This was a 

 great stream of ice brought south by the Labrador current, and 

 consisted of " pans " from a few feet to several hundred feet in 

 diameter, but generally so separated that the steamer could 

 push her way through without difficulty. In places, however, 

 the effect of the wind had been to drive the pans close together, 

 and then our progress was extremely slow, and indeed sometimes 

 the ship was entirely stopped until a change in wind or tide 

 caused the ice to loosen. To break through barriers across our 

 way it was sometimes necessary to back the ship and then go 

 ahead at full speed, using the prow as a ram. The sensation of 

 a ship striking and pushing these ice pans was a little startling 

 at first, but we soon saw what the vessel could stand, so that 

 only an unusual bump, that would rattle the dishes on the table 

 and perhaps throw us off our feet, would cause remark. It took 

 us a long time, however, to become used to the grinding of the 

 ice against the sides of the vessel as we lay in our bunks at night. 



While in this ice we had some extremely beautiful effects of 

 the mirage. One day when steaming along with 'only loose 

 cakes about us we appeared to be surrounded by a perpendicular 

 ice-wall, apparently cutting off all hope of progress, but as Ave 

 proceeded this phantom ice-wall ever kept at the same distance 

 from us. Near sunset the coloring on this mirage made an 

 especially beautiful sight. We sometimes saw three and even 

 four perfect images of distant icebergs and islands, one suspended 

 above another. Some of these effects were fantastic beyond 



