IX THE SEA 371 



extends far upwards towards the summit of 

 the mountain. The surface forms an inchned 

 plane of smooth unsullied snow, the beauty 

 and brightness of which render it a con- 

 spicuous landmark on that inhospitable shore. 

 From the perpendicular face great masses of 

 ice from time to time break away, 



Whose blocks of sapphire seem to mortal eye 

 Hewn from cserulean quarries of the sky.^ 



Field ice is comparatively flat, though it 

 may be piled up perhaps as much as 50 feet. 

 It is from glaciers that true icebergs, the 

 beauty and brilliance of which Arctic trav- 

 ellers are never tired of describing, take their 

 origin. 



The attempts to reach the North Pole have 

 cost many valuable lives ; Willoughby and 

 Hudson, Behring and Franklin, and many 

 other brave mariners ; but yet there are few 

 expeditions more popular than those to " the 

 Arctic," and we cannot but hope that it is 

 still reserved for the British Navy after so 

 many gallant attempts at length to reach the 

 North Pole. 



1 Montgomery. 



