1834.] 
ICEBERGS. 
515 
CHAPTER XXX. 
Passage north of the Falkland Islands — Icebergs — Perilous situation of the Potomac ' 
— Arrival at Rio — Naval etiquette — Excursion up the Bay — Island of Paqueta — 
National festival — Sai for the United States — Arrival at Boston — Public de- 
spatches — Splendid ball on board — End of the voyage. 
After passing the Falkland Islands we stood on to the north, 
shaping our course for Rio de Janeiro. On the morning of the 
seventeenth of March, at an early hour, land was reported from 
the look-out aloft. The commodore was on deck, and though the 
outlines of the object ahead could be clearly seen, in despite of 
the mist, no one believed that an island was to be met with north 
of the Falklands, which had for centuries remained undiscovered, 
in the common highway of nations. A short time removed all 
uncertainty ; as we bore down under a heavy press of sail, , a 
towering iceberg, shrouded in a cold mist and fog, was moving 
slowly on, by the power of deep currents, from the gloomy and 
cheerless regions of the south. 
" Thus in the Atlantic, oft the sailor eyes, 
While melting in the reign of softer skies, ■ 
Some Alp of ice, from polar region blown, — 
Hail the glad influence of a warmer zone." 
It moved along with awful, but not solitary grandeur, being but 
one of a squadron which successively rose to the view ; so that 
in sailing more than two degrees, we occasionally encountered 
these floating pyramids — now clothed in vapour, and again show- 
ing forth in a pure, cold, and silvery brightness. On the morning 
of the nineteenth the Potomac was for a moment in imminent 
peril, as she dashed through between two of these crystah towers, 
the large hummucks grating along her sides with a force that 
showed the power of their resistance. " Hard down the helm !" 
resounded on deck, and the order was instantly obeyed, followed 
again by the harsh grating of the ice along the sides and copper 
of the vessel. For a moment, the frigate bore off in perfect 
K k 2 
