350 



ANTARCTIC CRUISE. 



ness. When the icebergs are fully formed, they have a tabular and 

 stratified appearance, and are perfectly wall-sided, varying from one 

 hundred and eighty to two hundred and ten feet in height. These 

 were frequently found by us in their original situation, attached to 

 the land, and having the horizontal stratification distinctly visible. 



TABULAR ICEBERG. 



In some places we sailed for more than fifty miles together, along a 

 straight and perpendicular wall, from one hundred and fifty to two 

 hundred feet in height, with the land behind it. The icebergs found 

 along the coast afloat were from a quarter of a mile to five miles in 

 length ; their separation from the land may be effected by severe frost 

 rending them asunder, after which the violent and frequent storms 

 may be considered a sufficient cause to overcome the attraction which 

 holds them to the parent mass. In their next stage they exhibit the 

 process of decay, being found fifty or sixty miles from the land, and 

 for the most part with their surfaces inclined at a considerable angle 

 to the horizon. This is caused by a change in the position of the 

 centre of gravity, arising from the abrading action of the waves. 



INCLINED ICEBERG. 



By our observations on the temperature of the sea, it is evident 

 that these ice-islands can be little changed by the melting process 

 before they reach the latitude of 60°. The temperature of the sea 

 (as observed by the vessels going to and returning from the south), 



