434 POLAR ICE. 
Unfortunately,' in the southern hemisphere, all were not im 
pressed with the same sentiments of gratitude. The young* 
corporal Woltemad, who had been an unavailing witness of 
his father having sacrificed himself in the service of the com- 
pany and of mankind, wished in vain to be gratified with his 
father's place, humble as it was. Stung with the disappoint- 
inent, he left that ungrateful country and went to Batavia, 
where he died before the news of such a great and unexpect- 
ed recommendation could reach him. 
POLAR ICE. 
The ice which obstructs the navigation of the arctic seas 
consists of two different kinds; the one produced by the con- 
gelation of fresh, and the other by that of salt water. In those 
unhospitable tracts, the snow which annually falls on the isl- 
ands or continents, being again dissolved by the progress of 
the summer's heat, pours forth numerous rills and limpid 
streams, which are collected along the indented shores, and in 
the deep bays enclosed by precipitous rocks. There, this clear 
and gelid water soon freezes, and every successive year sup- 
plies an additional investing crust, till, after the lapse perhaps 
of several centuries, the icy mass rises at last to the size and 
aspect of a mountain commensurate with the elevation of the 
adjoining cliffs. The melting of the snovv', which is after- 
ward deposited on such enormous blocks, likewise contributes 
to their growth; and, by filling up the accidental holes or 
crevices, it renders the whole structure compact and uniform. 
Meanwhile, the principle of destruction has already begun iis 
operations. The ceaseless agitation of the sea gradually 
wears and undermines the base of the icy mountain, till at 
length, by the action of its own accumulated weight, when it 
has perhaps attained an altitude of a thousand, or even two 
thousand feet, it is torn from its frozen chains, and precipita- 
ted, with tremendous plunge, into the abyss below. This 
mighty launch now floats like a lofty island on the ocean ; 
till, driven southward by winds and currents, it insensibly 
wastes and dissolves away in the wide Atlantic. 
Such is conceived to be the real origin of the icy moun- 
tains or icebergs, entirely similar in their formation to the g/a- 
ciers which occur on the flanks of the Alps and the Pyrenees. 
