54 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



aud fall into the sea with a tremendous noise. When this circumstance, called 

 " calving," takes place, the iceberg loses its equilibrium, sometimes turns on 

 one side, and is occasionally inverted. 



Dr. Hayes witnessed the crumbling of an immense berg, resembling in its 

 general appearance the British House of Parliament. First one lofty tower 

 came tumbling into the water, starting from its surface an immense flock of 

 gulls ; then another followed ; and at length, after five hours of rolling and 

 crashing, there remained of this splendid mass of congelation not a fragment 

 that rose fifty feet above the water. 



One of the most remarkable phenomena of the Polar Sea is the ice-blink, or 

 reflection of the ice against the sky. A stripe of light, similar to the early 

 dawn of morning, but without its redness, appears above the horizon, and traces 

 a complete aerial map of the ice to a distance of many miles beyond the ordi- 

 nary reach of vision. To the experienced navigator the " blink " is frequently 

 of the greatest use, as it not only points out the vicinity of the drift-ice, but 

 indicates its nature, whether compact or loose, continuous or open. Thus 

 Scoresby relates that on the 7th of June, 1821, he saw so distinct an ice-blink, 

 that as far as twenty or thirty miles all round the horizon he was able to ascer- 

 tain the figure and probable extent of each ice-field. The packed ice was dis- 

 tinguished from the larger fields by a more obscure and yellow color ; while 

 each water-lane or open passage was indicated by a deep blue stripe or patch. 

 By this means he was enabled to find his way out of the vast masses of ice in 

 which he had been detained for several days, and to emerge into the open sea. 



The tendency of the pack-ice to separate in calm weather, so that one might 

 almost be tempted to believe in a mutual repulsive power of the individual 

 blocks, is likewise favorable to the Arctic navigator. The perpetual daylight 

 of summer is another advantage, but unfortunately the sun is too often veiled 

 by dense mists, which frequently obscure the air for weeks together, particular- 

 ly in July. These fogs, which are a great impediment to the whaler's opera- 

 tions, have a very depressing influence upon the spirits ; and as they are at- 

 tended with a low temperature, which even at noon does not rise much above 

 freezing-point, the damp cold is also physically extremely unpleasant. 



At other times the sun sweeps two or three times round the pole without 

 being for a moment obscured by a cloud, and then the transparency of the air 

 is such that objects the most remote may be seen perfectly distinct and clear. 

 A ship's top-gallant mast, at the distance of five or six leagues, may be discern- 

 ed when just appearing above the horizon with a common perspective-glass, 

 and the summits of mountains are visible at the distance of from sixty to a 

 hundred miles. 



On such sunny days, the strong contrasts of light and shade between the 

 glistening snow and the dark protruding rocks produce a remarkable deception 

 in the apparent distance of the land, along a steep mountainous coast. When 

 at the distance of twenty miles from Spitzbergen, for instance, it would be easy 

 to induce even a j udicious stranger to undertake a passage in a boat to the 

 shore, from a belief that he was within a league of the land. At this distance 

 the portions of rock and patches of snow, as well as the contour of the different 



